Sir Maurice Gerald Holmes GBE KCB (14 June 1885 – 4 April 1964) 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 ...

. Holmes joined the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

in 1909, where he was to stay until 1945, except for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when he joined the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and rose to the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. Holmes rose to become Director of Establishments in 1923–26, reaching the position of Deputy Secretary in 1931. In 1937, he replaced Sir Henry Pelham as the

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

. During 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Holmes was given the task of developing the Green Book which served as the basis for the landmark

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

. He retired in 1945, to be replaced by Sir John Redcliffe-Maud. After his retirement, Holmes served as the Chairman of the East African Salaries Commission in 1947, the Colonial Office inquiry into Civil Services of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the 1948 Caribbean Public Services Unification Commission, and the Lord Chancellor's Committee on Office of Public Trustee in 1954.

Personal life

Holmes was the only son of Edmond Gore Alexander Holmes Chief Inspector of Elementary Schools and Florence Mary Syme. He had two sisters, one of whom was the early woman engineer Verena Winifred Holmes. Educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, Holmes read

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

at Balliol where he received a

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. He was called to the bar in 1909 but, while waiting to start practising, he took a placement at the Board of Education (using his father's connections there), and decided to make it his career instead of law. He married Ivy Dunsford in 1917, with whom he had two daughters. During his war-time service, Holmes was mentioned in despatches twice, and was appointed as an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

and of the

Order of the Nile The Order of the Nile (''Kiladat El Nil'') was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt's principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt's highest state honor. Sultana ...

, and then received the CBE in 1919. He was created

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 ...

in 1929, and knighted as a Knight Commander (KCB) in 1938. He was invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by 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, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginnin ...

. Sir Maurice wrote ''Some Bibliographical Notes on the Novels of George Bernard Shaw'', published 1929, and ''An Introduction to the Bibliography of Captain Cook'', published 1936.

References

External links

1959 photograph of Sir Robert in the National Portrait Gallery's collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Maurice Gerald 1885 births 1964 deaths English civil servants People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Permanent Secretaries of the Board of Education