Sir Henry Hardman, KCB (15 December 1905 – 17 January 2001) was an English civil servant and, briefly, an academic economist.

Early life

Hardman was born in December 1905, the son of Harry Hardman of

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and Bertha Cook Hardman. He was educated at Manchester Central High School and read Commerce at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

, graduating in 1927. He taught for the Workers’ Educational Association from 1929 until 1934 when he was appointed an economics tutor at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

Civil Service career

After the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Hardman was drafted into the

civil service 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 ...

in 1940 and served in the Ministry of Food. He was Deputy Head of the British Food Mission in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

(1946–48) and was the Minister of the UK's Permanent Delegations in Paris from 1953 to 1955. When the Ministry of Food merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1955, he transferred to the new Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. He moved to the

Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...

in 1960 and was its

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

from 1961 to 1963. He was then

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, also called the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, is the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence. The office holder is the government's principal civilian adviser on Defence ...

(MoD) from 1963 to 1966, overseeing the merger of the former service departments into the MoD.

Post-retirement

After retiring, Hardman was chairman of the Home Grown Cereals' Authority (1968–77) and the

Covent Garden Market Authority New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, London, is the largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in the United Kingdom. It covers a site of and is home to about 200 fruit, vegetable and flower companies. The market serves 40% of the f ...

(1967–75), managing the market's move to

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies on the River Thames, with Battersea to the west, South Lambeth to the south and Vauxhall to the east. The area was formerly mainly industrial bu ...

, and he served on the

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

(1967–70; as deputy chairman until 1968). He acted as negotiator for a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

pay agreement in 1971."Sir Henry Hardman", ''The Times'' (London), 22 January 2001, p. 19. ."Hardman, Sir Henry"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 2021). Retrieved 17 August 2021.

Marriage and children

Hardman married Helen Diana Bosanquet. They had one son and two daughters.

Honours

Hardman was made a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB) on 2 January 1956,Supplement to the London Gazette, 2 January 1956 and later advanced to be Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). Hardman received an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

LLD from the University of Manchester in 1965.

Death

Hardman died in January 2001, aged 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardman, Henry 1905 births 2001 deaths English civil servants Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Leeds Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Defence