The New Year Honours 1979 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1979 to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1979.
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes (Knight, Knight Grand Cross, etc.) and then divisions (Military, Civil, etc.) as appropriate.
United Kingdom and Commonwealth
Knight Bachelor
Peter Coleman Boon, lately Chairman, Hoover Ltd. For services to Export. Lawrence Boyle, Chief Executive, Strathclyde Regional Council. John Keyworth Boynton, , Chief Executive, Cheshire County Council. Derrick Holden-Brown, Vice Chairman, Allied Breweries Ltd. Eugene Cross, . For public service in Wales. Alastair Robert Currie, Professor of Pathology, University of Edinburgh. Professor William Empson. For services to English Literature. Moses I. Finley, Professor of Ancient History, University of Cambridge. Isaac Hai Jacob, , Senior Master of the Supreme Court (Queen's Bench Division) and Queen's Remembrancer. Brian Smith Kellett, Chairman, Tube Investments Ltd. John Leonard King, Chairman, Babcock & Wilcox Ltd. For services to Export. Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras, , Conductor. Kenneth Mather, , Professor of Genetics, University of Birmingham. Frederick William Page, , Chairman and Chief Executive, Aircraft Group, British Aerospace. John Joseph Joffre Page, , Chairman, National Ports Council. William Drummond Macdonald Paton, , Professor of Pharmacology, University of Oxford. James Redmond, lately Director of Engineering, British Broadcasting Corporation. Bernard Francis William Scott, , Chairman, Lucas Industries Ltd. For services to Export. Walter Stansfield , Chief Constable, Derbyshire Constabulary. John Nicholas Walton, , Professor of Neurology and Dean of Medicine, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Professor John Crossley Wood, , Chairman, Central Arbitration Committee.
Diplomatic Service and Overseas List
Eric John Ewan Law, Judge of the Court of Appeal, Kenya.
Australian States
State of Victoria
The Honourable Mr. Justice George Hermann Lush, of Canterbury. For distinguished service to the law. Mr. Oscar Gwynne Meyer, , of Toorak. For distinguished service to the State of Victoria.
State of Queensland
The Honourable William Edward Knox, , Deputy Premier and Treasurer. Robert Lyndley Sparkes, of Jandowae. For distinguished services to the State and to local government.
State of Western Australia
Bruce MacKinlay, , of Dalkeith. For services as President, Confederation of Western Australian Industry and also to the community.
Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) Military Division General Sir Edwin Bramall, , (277408), Colonel Commandant 3rd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets, Colonel 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles).
Civil Division
Sir Ian Powell Bancroft, , Head of the Home Civil Service.
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) Military Division Royal Navy Vice Admiral Peter Egerton Capel Berger, . Vice Admiral James Henry Fuller Eberle.
Army
Lieutenant General Robin Macdonald Carnegie, , (364503), late The Queen's Own Hussars. Major General James Michael Gow (278637), late Scots Guards, Colonel Commandant Intelligence Corps.
Royal Air Force
Air Marshal Alan Cyril Davies, . Acting Air Marshal Keith Alec Williamson, .
Civil Division
Frederick John Atkinson, , Chief Economic Adviser, HM Treasury. John Wilfrid Bourne, , Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, and Permanent Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Office. Thomas Chalmers Hetherington, , Director of Public Prosecutions.
Additional Knight Commander
Major Sir James Rennie Maudslay, , Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to The Queen.
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) Military Division Royal Navy Rear Admiral Thomas Henry Bradbury. Rear Admiral John Roger Southey Gerard-Pearse. Rear Admiral Wilfred Jackson Graham. Rear Admiral Michael Laurence Stacey.
Army
Major General David Stanley Appleby, , (91843), Army Legal Corps (now Retired). Major General Peter Aldcroft Downward, , (299293), Colonel The Queen's Lancashire Regiment. Major General Arthur Michael Lancelot Hogge, (357322), late The Queen's Own Hussars. Major General Kenneth Saunders, , (148549), late Royal Army Pay Corps. Major General Richard Brooking Trant, (383269), late Royal Regiment of Artillery.