Ian Powell Bancroft, Baron Bancroft (23 December 1922 – 19 November 1996) was a British senior civil servant.

Life

He was born at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

, the son of a teacher. He was educated at Sir William Turner's Grammar School,

Coatham Coatham is an area of Redcar in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. History There is reputed to be an entry in the Doomsday book – the first recorded reference to Coatham as "the ...

and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read English. He served with the Rifle Brigade in France from 1942 to 1943, reaching the rank of Captain. Dalyell, Tam
Obituary: Lord Bancroft
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 22 November 1996. After leaving the Army he joined the Civil Service, serving 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 ...

to the Second Secretary to the Treasury Sir Henry Wilson Smith from 1948 to 1950, to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

from 1953 to 1955, and also to Butler as Lord Privy Seal from 1955 to 1957. He was

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 ...

to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Reginald Maudling Reginald Maudling (7 March 1917 – 14 February 1979) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1962 to 1964 and as Home Secretary from 1970 to 1972. From 1955 until the late 1960s, he was spoken of as a prospecti ...

in 1964, continuing under James Callaghan until 1966, when he became an Under-Secretary to the Treasury. In 1968 he moved to the same position in the new

Civil Service Department In the Government of the United Kingdom, the minister for the Civil Service is responsible for regulations regarding His Majesty's Civil Service, the role of which is to assist the governments of the United Kingdom in formulating and implementin ...

, then to the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

as Deputy Secretary and Director General of Organisation and Establishments from 1970 to 1972. From 1972 to 1973 he was a Commissioner of

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

, then Second Permanent Secretary at the Civil Service Department until 1975. He returned to the Department of the Environment as Permanent Secretary from 1975 to 1977 before becoming Permanent Secretary to the Civil Service Department and

Head of the Home Civil Service His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, whic ...

in 1978. In 1981

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

abolished the Civil Service Department, effectively ending his career.

Honours

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the

1971 Birthday Honours The 1971 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in supplemen ...

, a

Knight Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

in the 1975 New Year Honours, and a

Knight Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

in 1979 New Year Honours. On 15 February 1982 he was created a life peer as Baron Bancroft, ''of

in the County of Cleveland'', and took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

Personal life

He was married in 1950 to Jean Swaine, by whom he had two sons and a daughter. Lord Bancroft died in London in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bancroft, Ian, Baron Bancroft 1922 births Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Rifle Brigade officers British Army personnel of World War II Permanent Secretaries of the Civil Service Department Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Environment Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 1996 deaths People educated at Sir William Turner's Grammar School, Redcar Life peers created by Elizabeth II