Sir Arthur Hilton Poynton

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

(20 April 1905 – 24 February 1996), known as Sir Hilton Poynton, was a British civil servant who held the position of

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies Permanent may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Permanent'' (film), a 2017 American film * ''Permanent'' (Joy Division album) * "Permanent" (song), by David Cook Other uses * Permanent (mathematics), a concept in linear algebra * Permanent (cy ...

from 1959 until his retirement in 1966.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Poynton, Sir (Arthur) Hilton
Retrieved 10 November 2020.National Portrait Gallery, Sir (Arthur) Hilton Poynton
Retrieved 10 November 2020.

Family and education

Born in

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 ...

, Poynton was the younger son of the classical scholar Arthur Blackburne Poynton (1867–1944) and Mary Sargent (1867–1952). He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

. In 1946 he married Elisabeth Joan Williams, with whom he had two sons and one daughter.

Career and retirement

After passing 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 ...

entrance exam In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typicall ...

, Poynton was recruited by the

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

in 1927. Two years later he was transferred to the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

, where his real interests lay, following his appointment as Assistant Principal. He served as

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 ...

to the

Minister of Supply The Minister of Supply was the minister in the British Government responsible for the Ministry of Supply, which existed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the national armed forces. The position was campaigned for by many sceptics of the for ...

and the

Minister of Production The Minister of Production was a British government position that existed during the Second World War, heading the Ministry of Production. Initially the post was called "Minister of War Production" when it was created in February 1942, but the fir ...

from 1941 to 1943. In 1943 he returned to the Colonial Office, serving Deputy Under-Secretary of State in charge of the Economic Division from 1948 to 1959. In 1959 he was appointed

, holding the position until his retirement in 1966, the year in which the Colonial Office merged with the

Commonwealth Relations Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commo ...

to form the

Commonwealth Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Common ...

. After his retirement Poynton pursued a wide range of interests. He was a member of the Governing Body of the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is th ...

(1967–1972) and a member of the Court of Governors of the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

(1965–1977). He was also a member of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Commonwealth and Overseas Council's policy study group on the future of the

Dependent Territories A dependent territory, dependent area, or dependency (sometimes referred as an external territory) is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the controlli ...

. He was Treasurer of the

Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those interest ...

(1967–1976) and Director of the Overseas Branch of

St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

(1968–1975). He died on 24 February 1996 at the age of 90.

Honours

Poynton was made a 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

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

, a Knight Commander of the Order (KCMG) in 1949 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order (GCMG) in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poynton, Hilton 1905 births 1996 deaths People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Civil servants in the Colonial Office Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Colonies Private secretaries in the British Civil Service