Sir Osmund Somers Cleverly (1891 – 21 October 1966) was a British civil servant who, between 1935 and 1939, served as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Early life

Osmund Cleverly was born in 1891 at

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to artist, Charles Frederick Moore Cleverly and Mary Isabel Cleverly.London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: ''p81/mrv/002'' His baptism is recorded as having taken place on 10 December 1891 in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of St. Mary the Virgin. For his schooling he was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

. Following 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 ...

he saw active service in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

between 1914 and 1919.

Career

War Office

After the war he entered the

British 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, which ...

, where he worked at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

between 1919 and 1935.

Principal Private Secretary

In 1935 he was appointed

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 ...

and then Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. In this capacity he served the

British Prime Ministers The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the principal minister of the crown of His Majesty's Government, and the head of the British Cabinet. There is no specific date for when the office of prime minister first appeared, as the role was no ...

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

and

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...

between 1935 and 1939.

Ministry of Supply

He served as Deputy Secretary in the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

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

between 1939 and 1941.

Commissioner of Crown Lands

From 1941 to 1952 he was Commissioner of Crown Lands and was called out of

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

to fill the role between 1954 and 1955 after the

Crichel Down Affair The Crichel Down affair was a British political scandal of 1954, with a subsequent effect and notoriety. The ''Crichel Down Rules'' are guidelines applying to compulsory purchase drawn up in the light of the affair. Crichel Down land The case cen ...

Personal life

Cleverly married Priscilla Simpson, daughter of Prof. Frederick Moore Simpson , in 1920 with whom he had two sons and a daughter. He was appointed

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Monarchy of Canada, Canadian monarch, Mon ...

(CVO) in the 1937 Coronation Honours,

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 ...

(CB) in the King's Birthday Honours 1939, and Knighted in The King's Birthday Honours 1951. He died on 21 October 1966 with his funeral held at St. James's Church in

Shere Shere is a village in the Guildford district of Surrey, England east south-east of Guildford and west of Dorking, centrally bypassed by the A25. It is a small still partly agricultural village chiefly set in the wooded 'Vale of Holmesdale' b ...

, Surrey.

References

alongside

Sir Harold Vincent Sir Harold Graham Vincent (13 November 1891 — 5 November 1981) was an English first-class cricketer and civil servant. Vincent was born at Harlesden in November 1891. He was educated at Haileybury, where he played for the college cricket te ...

in 1935–1936 1891 births 1966 deaths British civil servants Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister {{UK-gov-bio-stub