Percy Herbert Mills, 1st Viscount Mills, (4 January 1890 – 10 September 1968), known as Sir Percy Mills, Bt, between 1953 and 1957 and as The Lord Mills between 1957 and 1962, was a British industrialist, public servant and politician.

Background and education

Mills was born at

Thornaby Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,74 ...

and educated at

Barnard Castle School Barnard Castle School (colloquially Barney School or locally the County School) is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day and boarding school in the market town of Barnard Castle, County Durham, in the North East Engl ...

.Halsbury, ‘Mills, Percy Herbert, first Viscount Mills (1890–1968)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 26 May 2011
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Career

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 ...

Mills served as Controller-General of Machine Tools at 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 ...

from 1940 to 1944. He earned Harold Macmillan's absolute confidence and was described by the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' as "one of the most politically influential industrialists of his time." He 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 the 1942 New Year Honours, and was appointed to 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 ...

as a Knight Commander (KBE) in the

1946 Birthday Honours The 1946 King's Birthday Honours, celebrating the official birthday of King George VI, were announced on 13 June 1946 for the United Kingdom and British Empire. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new h ...

. He was created as a Baronet, of Alcester in the County of Warwick, in 1952 and was raised to the peerage as Baron Mills, of Studley in the County of Warwick, in January 1957. The same month newly appointed Prime Minister Macmillan made Mills Minister of Power, with a seat in the cabinet. He was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

at the same time. In October 1959 he became

Paymaster-General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...

, which he remained until October 1961, when he was made

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

. Following his departure from the Cabinet after the "

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...

" he was made Viscount Mills, of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

in the County of London, in 1962.

Personal life

Lord Mills died in September 1968, aged 78, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his son, Roger.

References

External links

* , - 1890 births 1968 deaths Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Barnard Castle School Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II {{UK-viscount-stub