Sir William Arthur Harvey Druitt, KCB (19 April 1910 – 6 February 1973), commonly known as Sir Harvey Druitt, was a British lawyer.

Career

Born on 19 April 1910 to Arthur Druitt of

Gullane Gullane ( or ) is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the ninth century. The ruins of the Old Church of St. Andrew built in the twelft ...

, Harvey Druitt was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

."Druitt, Sir (William Arthur) Harvey"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 2 November 2018. He was admitted a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in 1935, joining the

Treasury Solicitor's department The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Service. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor. This office go ...

two years later. In 1956, he was appointed Deputy Treasury Solicitor, and then in 1964 became

HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Service. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor. This office g ...

. He was the first Treasury Solicitor to be promoted from inside the office. Druitt retired in 1971;"Sir Harvey Druitt", ''The Times'' (London), 7 February 1973, p. 18.H. S. K. and H. G. W., "Sir Harvey Druitt", ''The Times'' (London), 9 February 1973, p. 16. he had been appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in the

1951 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1951 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the o ...

, and promoted to Knight Commander in the

1965 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1965 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

. Outside of his legal work, Druitt played rugby for

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

against

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1929, 1930 and 1931, with one obituarist describing him as a "rawboned Scottish forward, good with his feet before forwards forgot how to dribble, and no mean kicker".U. A. T., "Sir Harvey Druitt", ''The Times'' (London), 9 February 1973, p. 16. He played three times for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1936 before captaining

London Scottish F.C. London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is currently playing in the RFU Championship. The club share the Athletic Ground wi ...

in 1937. In later life, he chaired the Civil Service Sports Council (1965–68) and was President of the Civil Service Rugby Club, which beat each of the armed forces' teams in one season for the first time under his presidency. Druitt died on 6 February 1973, leaving a widow (Joan Holdsworth, ''née'' Swift) and one son (a daughter had predeceased him).

Likenesses

* Portrait by Walter Bird (black and white, bromide print, 1965) in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

(reference no
NPG x167263
.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Druitt, Harvey 1910 births 1973 deaths English solicitors Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 20th-century English lawyers Treasury Solicitors