Sir Harold Graham Vincent (13 November 1891 — 5 November 1981) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er and civil servant. Vincent was born at

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west toward ...

in November 1891. He was educated at Haileybury, where he played for the college cricket team from 1909 to 1911. Against

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Hugget ...

at Lord's in 1910, Vincent made scores of 52 and 118

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

; despite this Haileybury lost by an innings. From Haileybury he matriculated to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. While studying at Cambridge, he played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...

in 1914, making four appearances. He scored 106 runs in his four matches, with a highest score of 41. His appearance in

The University Match The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. From 2001, as part of the reorganisation of first-class cricket, ...

gained him a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

. After graduating from Cambridge, Vincent fought in 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 was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

London Rifle Brigade The London Rifle Brigade was a volunteer regiment of the British Army. History The regiment was first raised in the City of London on 14 December 1859 as 1st London (City of London Volunteer Rifle Brigade) Rifle Volunteer Corps, a rifle volun ...

in September 1914, and travelled to the Western Front in November 1914. He was made a temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in March 1915, and was wounded in action in May 1915, temporarily being invalided from service. Upon his recovery he was transferred to the

East Lancashire Royal Engineers The East Lancashire Royal Engineers was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers raised in Manchester in 1901. It became the engineer component of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division of the Territorial Force, seeing service in Egypt, at Ga ...

in September 1915, spending time as an instructor at Signalling Schools when he was seconded with the Royal Corps of Signals. He had returned to the London Rifle Brigade by March 1917, having been promoted to captain in June 1916. Following the war, Vincent successfully applied to enter the Civil Service as a clerk in the Treasury in September 1919. He was private secretary to successive

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...

from 1928 to 1934 and served as

Principal 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 ...

from 1934 to 1936. He was made a 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, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

in the

1932 New Year Honours The 1932 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 29 December 1931. The recipients of honour ...

and made a Companion to 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 ...

in the

1935 Birthday Honours The 1935 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 3 June 1935 to celebrate the Birthday and Silver Jubilee of King George V. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged b ...

. Vincent moved to the Committee of Imperial Defence, where he was Principal Assistant Secretary from 1936 to 1939, before holding the same position at the

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

(1939–41), Works and Buildings and Town and Country Planning (1941–44),

Ministry of Production The Ministry of Production was a British government department created in February 1942, initially under the title Ministry of War Production, but the following month "War" was dropped from the title. Its purpose was to fill a gap in the machinery ...

(1944–46), and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (1946–49). He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in '' The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The re ...

. In 1975, the Brotherton Library at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

released a lengthy memo written by Vincent in 1938 to Edward Bridges criticising the "hopeless state" of administrative organisation for defence. Vincent died at

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

in November 1981; he was the last survivor of the 1914 University Match.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Harold 1891 births 1981 deaths Military personnel from Middlesex People from Harlesden Sportspeople from the London Borough of Brent People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers British Army personnel of World War I London Rifle Brigade officers Royal Engineers officers Royal Corps of Signals officers British civil servants Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George