Campbell Tait

Admiral Sir William Eric Campbell Tait (12 August 1886 – 17 July 1946) was a senior British naval officer, courtier and the fifth Governor of Southern Rhodesia after his naval retirement in 1944, serving from 1945 to 1946.

He commanded various cruisers between 1928 and 1937. He became Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic in 1942.

Naval career Born in Morice Town, Devon to Deputy Surgeon-General and author, William Tait, and his wife Emma, Tait entered the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 1902. Following his graduation, Tait became a career naval officer, serving in the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean and China.

After serving in World War I, during which he was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO), Tait married Katie Grenfell, daughter of Captain Hubert Grenfell, inventor of illuminated night sights for naval guns, on 3 November 1919. They had two daughters. Under the name Cynthia Tait (1894–1962) his wife became a well-known botanical illustrator, particularly of South African flowers.

Tait was promoted to Commander in 1921 and Captain in 1926, gaining his first command in 1928 as Commanding Officer of . a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1940 and Vice Admiral in 1941. After serving as Director of Personal Services at the Admiralty, Tait's tenure as Governor proved to be fleeting as, ailing for some time, Tait relinquished the Governorship in February 1946 after twelve months and died at Government House, Salisbury, five months later, less than a month before his 60th birthday.

There is an Admiral Tait Primary School in Harare, Zimbabwe, named in honour of Tait.