After Pangbourne, Rory Jackson joined the Navy as a Seaman Officer in 1959, qualifying as a Navigation Specialist in 1968. He was promoted Commander in 1979, serving in HM Ships Appleton, Decoy, Naiad, Torquay, Diomede and Ashanti. His last appointment was as Staff Officer Operations on the staff of Flag Officer Plymouth.
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On leaving the Navy in 1990 he became Bursar of Trinity School in Teignmouth (Co-ed Boarding and Day) and then Abingdon School (Boarding and Day but all boys – over a thousand of them!) During his time at Abingdon, he was elected a member of the Independent Schools Bursars’ Association Executive Committee, Chairing its Finance Committee and then becoming the Chairman of the Association in 2003. He was also a member of the Independent Schools Council and was Chairman of its Finance Committee
Rory qualified as a Chartered Secretary in 1982 and was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 1989. He was Chairman of the Thames Valley Branch of the Institute. He became a Liveryman in 1997 and was elected as a member of the Court in 2001, serving as Master for 2010/11.
During his time as Master he signed Letters of Affiliation with HMS Ambush and the Support Wing at RAF Odiham. He introduced the Merituous Award for non Court Members who had given Exceptional Service to the Company. Speakers at events included Lord Powell of Bayswater, Lord Wilson of Dinton, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, then Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Air Marshal Sir Ian McFadyen, then Constable of Windsor Castle and the Lord Levene of Portsoken. The Address at the Annual Church Service was given by the Bishop of Ely.
He is a member of the Exeter Flotilla and ran the Trafalgar Day Service at Exeter Cathedral from 2006 to 2009 and was Chairman from 2012 to 2015
He has also been a Trustee of the Britannia Association, and Master of the Britannia Beagles.