Sir Charles William Fielding,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(4 October 1863 – 9 April 1941) was a British businessman, landowner, farmer, writer and civil servant. Born on 4 October 1863, he was the only son of Thomas Mantell Fielding (1834–1914) and Jean Eleanora, ''née'' Ewing (died 1898). A direct male line descendant of the novelist

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

and the aristocrat

George Feilding, 1st Earl of Desmond George Feilding, 1st Earl of Desmond (c. 1614 – 31 January 1665) was an English aristocrat, awarded the title of Earl of Desmond in the Peerage of Ireland by Charles I of England under the terms of a letter patent issued by James I of Englan ...

, he was the owner of 3,000 acres of land in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, half of which were farmed. He was a keen advocate for supporting the domestic production of food. He was also a director of the

Rio Tinto Company Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, ...

(serving as chairman later in life)."Sir Charles Fielding", The Times, 14 April 1941, p. 6. . During the First World War, that company supplied

pyrites The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...

to the Allies at discounted prices. Fielding assisted the wartime government as a member of the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

non-ferrous metals In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron (allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable proper ...

committee, as a member of the Restriction of Imports Committee, as a member of the council of the

Ministry of Reconstruction The Ministry of Reconstruction was a department of the United Kingdom government which existed after both World War I and World War II in order to provide for the needs of the population in the post war years. World War I The Ministry of Recons ...

and, from 1917, as chairman of the Materials and Metals Economy Committee of the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of ...

. Having also served on the Committee on the Production of Food in 1915, he was appointed Director-General of Food Production at the

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in 1918, serving until 1919. For his war services, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in June 1917. Afterwards, he remained interested in agricultural policy, writing ''Food'' (1923), ''Prosperity for England'' (1928) and ''Permanent Prosperity for Britain and Profitable Work for All Unemployed'' (1934)."Fielding, Charles William, Sir, K.B.E."
''British Library''. Retrieved 2 February 2022. He died on 9 April 1941 at Ingfield Manor in

Billingshurst Billingshurst is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village lies on the A29 road (the Roman Stane Street) at its crossroads with the A272, south-west of Horsham and north-east of Pulborough. Th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, Charles 1863 births 1941 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople 20th-century British landowners British civil servants 20th-century British writers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire