Philip Shirley (1913–1998) was a businessman, who held senior positions with the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

British Rail Board British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermu ...

in the United Kingdom and the

Public Transport Commission The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsib ...

in Australia.

Life and career

Philip Shirley was born in Australia in 1912, before emigrating to England in 1936. In 1958 he became the chairman of

Batchelors Batchelors is a popular brand of predominantly dried food products. The Bachelors company was founded in 1895 in Sheffield, England by William Batchelor, initially specialising in canned vegetables. It released its first dried soup in 1949, an ...

. After being appointed to the

in 1961, he became the vice-chairman of the

under

Richard Beeching Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the e ...

in 1964. He was appointed chairman of

in 1968.New South Wales Public Transport Commission Appointed ''

Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

'' October 1972 page 1British Railways Executive for Transport Commission ''

Railway Transportation ''Railway Transportation'' was a Sydney based monthly trade magazine covering rail transport in Australia. Overview ''Railway Transportation'' was established in October 1951 by Frank Shennen. Shennen Publishing already published ''Truck & Bu ...

'' October 1972 page 3Personnel of new public transport commission named ''

Truck & Bus Transportation ''Truck & Bus Transportation'' was a Sydney-based monthly trade magazine covering aspects of transport in Australia. Overview ''Truck & Bus Transportation'' was established in July 1936 by Frank Shennen as ''Transportation''. It was renamed ''T ...

'' October 1972 page 117 Having retired, in 1972 Shirley returned to Australia, having been appointed the inaugural chairman of the

, becoming the highest paid

public 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 ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Appointed for a five-year term, Shirley resigned in November 1975 and returned to England. Shirley earned the ire of

railfan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rail ...

s enforcing bans on

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s operating on the main line in both the United Kingdom and Australia.Mr Shirley Bows Out ''

The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in t ...

'' issue 897 January 1976 page 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirley, Philip British Rail people British Transport Commission Public servants of New South Wales 1913 births 1998 deaths Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom