Richard John Trowbridge was born on 21 January 1920 to a farming family at Andover in the county of Hampshire, England. He was educated at Andover Grammar School and was fully expecting to become a farmer until a downturn in agriculture saw him leave school in 1935 at just 15 years of age to join the Royal Navy as a boy seaman. Trowbridge was quickly promoted through the navy ranks, and was commissioned as sub-lieutenant in 1940, serving throughout the Second World Warat sea. At the end of hostilities, he was stationed in Singapore for a number of years where he was promoted to commander in 1953, and where he met and married Anne Perceval, on 26 February 1955. From 1956 to 1958, Trowbridge captained the destroyer in the Mediterranean, and following this served as the second-in-command of the cruiser from 1958 to 1959. He then returned to the gunnery school at Whale Island in Portsmouth, where he was promoted to captain in 1960. From 1962 to 1964 he was captain of the frigate and in charge of the Fishery Protection Squadron, and from 1967 to 1969 he commanded the guided missile destroyer, which for many years was the flagship of the Western Fleet. Trowbridge became extra equerry to the Queen Elizabeth II in 1970 and he served as Flag Officer from 1970 to 1975.
Governor of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia, Sir Charles Court, in 1975 sought to revive the practice of appointment of British-born governors for Western Australia, contrary to the advice of Lord Goronwy-Roberts, British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who supported the newly established custom that Australian state governors should be Australian-born. An initial compromise was the appointment of Sir Wallace Kyle, a retired Royal Air Force officer who, although totally Anglicised, was Kalgoorlie-born. Following Kyle's term, Trowbridge was appointed Governor of Western Australia on Premier Court's recommendation, for a term from 25 November 1980 to 24 November 1983. On completion of his term, Trowbridge returned to retirement in the United Kingdom living in Portsmouth. His life was overshadowed by exposure to asbestos which was being removed from Britannia during a long refit which he supervised, almost certainly leading to his death from lung cancer. He died on 4 May 2003, in Portsmouth.
