Sir Stanley Mordaunt Leathes (7 May 1861 – 25 July 1938) was a British poet, economist, historian and senior

Civil Service 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 ...

administrator, being the

First Civil Service Commissioner The First Civil Service Commissioner heads the Civil Service Commission, a statutory body which ensures that appointments to the Civil Service in the United Kingdom are made openly and on merit, and hears appeals from civil servants under the Civi ...

from 1910 to 1927.

Early life

Leathes was born in London, the eldest son of the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

scholar Stanley Leathes and his wife Matilda (née Butt). His younger brother was

John Beresford Leathes John Beresford Leathes DSc, MA, FRS, FRCS, FRCP (5 November 1864 – 14 September 1956) was a British physiologist and an early biochemist. He was the son of Hebrew scholar Stanley Leathes, and the brother of the poet, historian and First ...

, a distinguished

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

who was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1911.Peters, Rudolph ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'' – Vol. 4, (Nov., 1958), pp. 185–191 Published by: The Royal Society
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Academic career

Stanley Mordaunt Leathes was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

between 1873 and 1880, holding a

King's Scholar A King's Scholar is a foundation scholar (elected on the basis of good academic performance and usually qualifying for reduced fees) of one of certain public schools. These include Eton College; The King's School, Canterbury; The King's School ...

ship. On leaving Eton, he went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where in 1882 he was awarded a First in part one of the

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied ...

and in 1884 another First in part two. Also in 1884 he received a notable prize, second

Chancellor's Gold Medal The Chancellor's Gold Medal is a prestigious annual award at Cambridge University for poetry, paralleling Oxford University's Newdigate Prize. It was first presented by Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh during his time as ...

. and took the degree of BA.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' newspaper dated 27 and 30 July 1938 While at Cambridge Leathes became a member of a small society of friends known as the T. A. F.; this was made up of members of King's College and Trinity College, who would meet every Sunday evening for supper. Other members included

James Kenneth Stephen James Kenneth Stephen (25 February 1859 – 3 February 1892) was an English poet, and tutor to Prince Albert Victor, eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Early life James Kenneth Stephen was the second son of Sir James Fitzjame ...

, Walter George Headlam,

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

, and

Henry Babington Smith Sir Henry Babington-Smith (29 January 1863 – 29 September 1923) was a senior British civil servant, who served in a wide range of posts overseas, mostly financial, before becoming a director of the Bank of England. He was related to the Babi ...

. In 1886 Leathes was elected a

of Trinity and in 1888 proceeded by seniority to the degree of MA. He was a lecturer in History at his college from 1892 to 1903.W. C. D. Dampier
"Leathes, Sir Stanley Mordaunt (1861–1938)"
revised by H. C. G. Matthew, in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 27 September 2013 In June 1902, he was appointed deputy to

Lord Acton John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He is best remembered for the remark he w ...

, Regius Professor of Modern History, who died only a week later. Leathes had helped Lord Acton plan the ''

Cambridge Modern History ''The Cambridge Modern History'' is a comprehensive modern history of the world, beginning with the 15th century Age of Discovery, published by the Cambridge University Press in England and also in the United States. The first series, planned by ...

'', and with

A. W. Ward Sir Adolphus William Ward (2 December 1837 – 19 June 1924) was an English historian and man of letters. Life Ward was born at Hampstead, London, the son of John Ward. He was educated in Germany and at Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1866, W ...

and G. W. Prothero edited it between 1901 and 1912. During this time Leathes enjoyed riding and

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, frequently joining the Cambridgeshire hounds. For some years he was editor of the ''Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society'', of which he was an active member.

Civil servant

Leathes left Cambridge on his appointment as Secretary to the General Board of Studies from 1900 to 1903, becoming Secretary to the

Civil Service Commission A civil service commission is a government agency that is constituted by legislature to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, oversee hiring and promotions, and promote the values of the public service. Its role is rou ...

in 1903. In 1907 he became a Commissioner, eventually becoming First Commissioner, a post he held from 1910 until his retirement in 1927."Sir Stanley Leathes – Former Civil Service Commissioner"
– ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', 28 July 1938 He served as Chairman of various government committees on special questions, including a ground-breaking committee reporting in 1918 set up to investigate the teaching of modern languages in the UK which was responsible for moving from the teaching of ancient languages in schools such as

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

to modern European languages. From January to November 1918 he was Establishment Officer in the Ministry of Food, placing him in charge of essential war work during

World War I 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 ...

, being responsible for staffing and accommodation in 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 ...

. He was appointed CB in 1911 and KCB in 1919.''Who was Who'', 1929 He never married, and on leaving Cambridge he lived for a period in the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in London, later sharing a house with the Revd J. A. Nairn near

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

in Berkshire. Sir Stanley Mordaunt Leathes died at Barnwood House, a nursing home near

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, on 25 July 1938.

Publications

Leathes's publications include ''Vox Clamantis: Essays on Collectivism'' (1911) under the pseudonym Numa Minimus; under his own name he published ''Eton: Life in College'' (1881), edited ''A Grace Book Containing the Proctors' Accounts and Other Records of the University of Cambridge for the years 1454–1488'' (1897), ''The Claims of the Old Testament'' (1897), ''The People of England'' (3 vols., 1915–23), ''The Teaching of English at the Universities'' (1913), ''What is Education?'' (1913) and ''Rhythm in English Poetry'' (1935).

References

External links

*
Portraits of Leathes
on the National Portrait Gallery website
Leathes
in

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leathes, Stanley Mordaunt 1861 births 1938 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British civil servants