Sir Reginald John Ayres,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, CB (22 April 1900''

1939 England and Wales Register The National Registration Act 1939 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament as an emergency measure at the start of the World War II, Second World War. The Act provided ...

'' – 25 June 1966) was a British civil servant.

Biography

Born in 1900,"Ayres, Sir Reginald John"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 9 January 2018. aged 15 Ayres joined the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

as a boy clerk, before joining the armed forces in 1918; he left as a

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

in 1920 and joined the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

as an executive officer. In 1942, he joined the Ministry of Fuel and Power as Deputy Accountant General. He became Under Secretary for Finance and Accountant General in 1950 and Deputy Secretary in 1950, before retiring in 1961."Sir Reginald Ayres", ''The Times'' (London), 29 June 1966, p. 14. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946), a Commander (CBE) in 1949 and Knight Commander (KBE) in 1958; he was also a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). In the inter-war period, Ayres's work with the Ministry of Labour in the north-east of England brought him into contact with unemployed miners and their families, which stimulated what '' The Times'' called his "deep devotion to the coal industry"; he served as a part-time member of the National Coal Board after retiring from the civil service. His time at the Ministry of Fuel and Power in the 1940s was concerned with nationalising the coal industry - overseeing fuel policy thereafter. ''The Times'' wrote that "it was all too easy to assume, on first acquaintance, that he was a solid, strong, reliable, experienced and shrewd civil servant, and nothing more. In fact ... he was an original thinking and inspiring leader ... his whole career was a fine example of public service in the best sense". In 1922, he married Rosalie Smelt and they had four children: two sons and two daughters. He died on 25 June 1966.

Likenesses

* Obituary in ''The Times'' (London), 29 June 1966, p. 14.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres, Reginald 1900 births 1966 deaths British civil servants Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Civil servants in the Ministry of Labour Civil servants in the Ministry of Power