Sir Nathaniel Joseph Highmore (13 November 1844 – 16 April 1924) was a senior 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 ...

and government

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

. Highmore was born in Sherborne,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, the son of William Highmore MP, and was educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

. He joined the Inland Revenue at the age of twenty, was called to the

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, and became Assistant Solicitor to the Inland Revenue in 1890. In 1903 he became Solicitor to

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

and in 1909 Solicitor to HM Excise. He retired in 1913. On the outbreak of 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 ...

in 1914, Highmore returned to government service as the representative of the

Board of 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 th ...

on the Committee on Trading with the Enemy. From 1915 to its abolition in March 1919 he was Secretary and Assistant Director of the War Trade Department. Highmore was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1907 and appointed

Knight Commander 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 ...

(KCB) on his retirement in 1913. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours for his services with the War Trade Department.

Footnotes

1844 births 1924 deaths People from Sherborne People educated at Sherborne School Civil servants in the Board of Inland Revenue Civil servants in HM Customs and Excise Members of HM Government Legal Service English barristers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Bachelor {{UK-gov-bio-stub