{{Short description|British Army general and Serjeant at Arms}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Major General | name = Peter Grant Peterkin | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|CB|OBE}} | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | office = Serjeant-at-Arms of the British House of Commons | term_start = 31 December 2004 | term_end = 24 June 2007 | 1blankname = Speaker | 1namedata = Michael Martin | predecessor = Sir Michael Cummins | successor = Jill Pay | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|07|6|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | birth_name = | party = | other_party = | spouse = | children = | alma_mater = Durham University | occupation = | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | website = | footnotes = <!-- Military service --> | nickname = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army | service_years = 1967–2004 | rank = Major General | unit = | commands = 5th Division<br/>24th Airmobile Brigade | battles = Kosovo War | mawards = Companion of the Order of the Bath<br/>Officer of the Order of the British Empire }} Major General '''Anthony Peter Grant Peterkin''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|CB|OBE}} (born 6 July 1947) is a retired senior British Army officer. He was the British House of Commons' Serjeant at Arms between 2004 and 2007.
==Early life== Grant Peterkin was born on 6 July 1947.<ref name="Debrett's bio">{{cite web|title=Maj-Gen Peter Grant Peterkin, CB, OBE|url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/month/july/21534/%28Anthony%29%20Peter+GRANT%20PETERKIN.aspx|work=People of Today Online|publisher=Debrett's|accessdate=7 August 2013}}</ref> He is the son of Brigadier James Grant Peterkin and his wife Dorothea Grant Peterkin. He was educated at Ampleforth College, then an all-boys private school in Ampleforth, North Yorkshire.<ref name="Who's Who 2013">{{cite web|title=GRANT PETERKIN, Maj. Gen. (Anthony) Peter|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U17882|work=Who's Who 2013|publisher=A & C Black|accessdate=7 August 2013|date=November 2012}}</ref>
==Military career== Having graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Grant Peterkin was commissioned into the Queen's Own Highlanders on 28 July 1967 as a second lieutenant. He was given the service number 483916.<ref name="LG 20 October 1967">{{London Gazette |issue=44435 |date=20 October 1967 |pages=11533–11534 |supp=y }}</ref> In 1968, he was selected for an in-service degree and began studying history at Durham University.<ref name="LinkedIn bio">{{cite web|title=Peter Grant Peterkin|url=http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/peter-grant-peterkin/26/549/87a|publisher=LinkedIn|accessdate=8 August 2013}}</ref> He was promoted to lieutenant on 28 January 1969.<ref name="LG 24 January 1969">{{London Gazette |issue=44774 |date=24 January 1969 |page=996 |supp=y }}</ref> He was a member of Hatfield College during his studies,<ref>{{cite web|title=Durham University gazette, XVIII (ns), supplement|url=http://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=bookreader/DU_Gazettes/DUGazette18_3/dg183METS.xml#page/6/mode/2up|website=reed.dur.ac.uk|accessdate=12 March 2018|language=en}}</ref> and graduated from Durham with a Bachelor of Arts in 1971.<ref name="Who's Who 2013" /> He was promoted to captain on 28 July 1973,<ref name="LG 14 August 1973">{{London Gazette |issue=46051 |date=14 August 1973 |page=9715 |supp=y }}</ref> and then served as aide-de-camp to the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Peter Hunt.<ref name="Who's Who 2013" /> He was promoted to major on 31 December 1979,<ref name="LG 28 January 1980">{{London Gazette |issue=48080 |date=28 January 1980 |page=1439 |supp=y }}</ref> and then attended the Indian Staff College in 1980.<ref name="Who's Who 2013" /> Following this experience he rejoined the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Own Highlanders in Hong Kong and later took them to the Falkland Islands in the aftermath of the Falklands War.<ref name="pressjournal">{{cite news |title=Forres officer joins UN observer force |work=Aberdeen Press and Journal |date=20 April 1991 |page=8}}</ref>
After a posting at the Ministry of Defence, Grant Peterkin attended the Australian Joint Services Staff College in 1986,<ref name="Who's Who 2013" /> and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 31 December 1986 with seniority in that rank from 30 June 1986.<ref name="LG 12 January 1987">{{London Gazette |issue=50799 |date=12 January 1987 |page=450 |supp=y }}</ref> He was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Highlanders in 1987. Then, from 1989 to 1991, he was Military Assistant to the Military Secretary.<ref name="Who's Who 2013" /> Grant Peterkin was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 New Year Honours and,<ref name="LG 28 December 1990">{{London Gazette |issue=52382 |date=28 December 1990 |page=5 |supp=y }}</ref> in the aftermath of the Gulf War, he joined the United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission, heading the British contingent of border observers.<ref name=pressjournal /> He was appointed commander of the 24th Airmobile Brigade in 1993,<ref name=debrett>[http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/month/july/21534/(Anthony)%20Peter+GRANT%20PETERKIN.aspx Debrett's People of Today]</ref> and then became Deputy Military Secretary in 1996.<ref name=debrett/>
In 1999 Grant Peterkin went on a mission, arranged by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to Kosovo<ref name=debrett/> and then later that year he was appointed the senior Army representative at the Royal College of Defence Studies.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=55385|supp=y|page=883|date=25 January 1999}}</ref> In October 1999 he became General Officer Commanding 5th Division.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=55735|supp=y|page=463|date=18 January 2000}}</ref> He became Military Secretary in 2000 before retiring in 2004.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=57175|supp=y|page=381|date=31 January 2004}}</ref> He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2003 New Year Honours.<ref name="LG 31 December 2002">{{London Gazette |issue=56797 |date=31 December 2002 |page=2 |supp=y }}</ref>
==Later life== Grant Peterkin was appointed Serjeant at Arms in 2004. His contract was not renewed in 2007 after suggestions of a falling out with Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons.<ref name="Telegraph - Serjeant at Arms given marching orders">{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Robert|title=Serjeant at Arms given marching orders|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555503/Serjeant-at-Arms-given-marching-orders.html|accessdate=7 August 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=London|date=24 June 2007}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 1974, Grant Peterkin married Joanna Young, daughter of Sir Brian Young. Together, they have had two children; one son and one daughter and now three grandchildren .<ref name="Who's Who 2013" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Robin Searby}} {{s-ttl|title=General Officer Commanding 5th Division|years=1999–2000}} {{s-aft|after=Arthur Denaro}} |- {{s-bef|before=Alistair Irwin}} {{s-ttl|title=Military Secretary|years=2000–2003}} {{s-aft|after=Freddie Viggers}} |- {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Michael Cummins}} {{s-ttl|title=Serjeant at Arms of the British House of Commons|years=2004–2007}} {{s-aft|after=Jill Pay}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant Peterkin, Peter}} Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Serjeants at arms of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Category:British Army major generals Category:Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies Category:Defence Services Staff College alumni Category:20th-century British Army personnel Category:21st-century British Army personnel Category:People educated at Ampleforth College Category:Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Category:Queen's Own Highlanders officers Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Military personnel of the Kosovo War