Alexander Ruthven Pym

Alexander Ruthven Pym (7 October 1891 – 13 August 1971) was a British Army officer, farmer, and chairman of Kent County Council.

The son of Claude George Melville Pym and his wife Lucy Victoria Leslie-Melville, he was educated at Winchester College.

On 14 October 1914, Pym was commissioned into the Irish Guards on probation, having been a Cadet in the Officers Training Corps of his school. He was mentioned in despatches during the First World War and was an acting Captain from November 1917 to August 1919, then until February 1920 was aide-de-camp to the General Officer Commanding the London District. He fought again in the Second World War, rising to the rank of Major. At a meeting of the council in January 1957, he was elected an alderman. In 1963, he became vice-chairman of the County Council. A newspaper pointed out that he was a cousin of Sir Charles Pym, a former chairman of the council.

For some years, Pym was chairman of governors of the Kent Farm and Horticultural Institute, resigning in July 1963.

In October 1963, Lord Cornwallis, Lord Lieutenant of Kent, appointed Pym as one of his Deputy Lieutenants, and he became chairman of Kent County Council in May 1964. Shortly after that, Pym said he saw a need to teach everyone to make better use of leisure and stated that he was himself taking art classes.

When not serving in the army, Pym lived and farmed at Charing.