Sir Denis Hubert Fletcher Rickett, (27 July 1907 – 26 February 1997), was a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who served as Clement Attlee's

Principal Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

(PPS) from 1950 to 1951 and as vice-president of the

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from 1968 until 1974.

Early life

Denis Hubert Fletcher Rickett was born on 27 July 1907, to the family of the owners of the coal merchants firm of Rickett & Cockerell, which through mergers and acquisitions became the eventual owners of the

Falkland Islands Company The Falkland Islands Company Ltd is a diversified goods and services company owned by FIH Group. Known locally as FIC, it was founded in 1851 and was granted a royal charter to trade in 1852 by Queen Victoria. It was originally founded by Samuel ...

. After studying at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

he matriculated to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

graduating in 1929. Although he went on to win a prize fellowship to

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

he chose to leave academia and instead join the civil service.

Career

Sir Denis Rickett's career began at the

Economic Advisory Council Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (PMEAC) is a non-constitutional, non-permanent and independent body constituted to give economic advice to the Government of India, specifically the Prime Minister. The council serves to ...

in 1931. He rose through the ranks to become Clement Attlee's Principal Private Secretary during 1950–1951. After various roles in the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

and Whitehall, he left to become vice-president of the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...

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, then under the leadership of

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the Lis ...

, a position he enjoyed from 1968 to 1974. Rickett was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the 1947 King's Birthday Honours,

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the

1951 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours The 1951 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were officially announced in a supplement to the ''London Gazette'' of 27 November 1951, published on 30 November 1951, to mark the resignation of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Mini ...

and knighted (

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

) in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1956.

Personal life

Denis Rickett was personally wealthy owning his own

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. He was also a talented amateur pianist. In 1946 Sir Denis married Ruth Armstrong, a doctor. He had three children, two sons and a daughter.

References

British civil servants {{DEFAULTSORT:Rickett, Denis 1907 births 1997 deaths