Sir William Percival Hildred, CB, OBE (13 July 1893 – 21 November 1986) was a British

civil 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 ...

who served as Director-General of Civil Aviation between 1941 and 1946 and Director-General of the International Air Traffic Association between 1946 and 1966.

Early life and family

Hildred was born on 13 July 1893 at

Kingston-upon-Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east o ...

, the son of William Kirk Hildred (died 1957).''Current Biography Yearbook 1956'' (H. W. Wilson Co., 1957), p. 271 In 1920, he married Constance Mary Chappell (died 1985) and with her had two sons and one daughter."Hildred, Sir William (Percival)"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition), Oxford University Press, 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.

Career

After studying at the Boulevard School, Hildred went to the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

to study economics. In 1914, he joined the First Battalion of the

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of ...

, serving in France and Salonika before he returned to England to recover from injuries in 1917."Sir William Hildred", ''Times'' (London), 24 November 1986, p. 18 In 1918 or 1919, he took up a post in the

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 ...

, initially entering the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

. He was Finance Officer for the

Empire Marketing Board The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was established as a substitute for tariff reform and protectionist legislation and ...

between 1926 and 1934, before being appointed Head of the Special Measures Branch at the

Ministry of Agriculture 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 f ...

(1934–35). After that, he was Deputy General Manager of the Export Credits Guarantee Department until 1938 and then Deputy Director-General of Civil Aviation in the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. In 1940, he became a Principal Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Aircraft Production and the following year he was appointed Director-General of Civil Aviation, in which post he served until 1946. While at the Air Ministry, Hildred worked closely with the

Brabazon Committee The Brabazon Committee was a committee set up by the British government in 1942 to investigate the future needs of the British Empire's civilian airliner market following World War II.Phipp, 2007, pp.15-16 The study was an attempt at defining, in ...

, which was drafting up plans for post-war British aircraft. In 1945, he was the British delegate to the Anglo-American Civil Aviation Conference, which precipitated the

Bermuda Agreement The Bermuda Agreement (formally Agreement between the government of the United Kingdom and the government of the United States relating to Air Services between their respective Territories), reached in 1946 by American and British negotiators in ...

. At

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in 1945, representatives of various airlines decided to revive the International Air Traffic Association and they unanimously elected Hildred as their Director-General. Hildred would remain in the position until his retirement in 1966. ''The Times'' remarked that he "steered IATA with skill and determination along a course made turbulent by the often conflicting interests of what grew from 40 to 101 airlines of more than 50 nations ... he established himself as a skilfil negotiator, a sound administrator and an eloquent speaker". On retirement, he and his wife lived at

Frensham Frensham is a village in Surrey, England, next to the A287 road, WSW of Guildford, the county town. Frensham lies on the right bank of the River Wey (south branch), only navigable to canoes, shortly before its convergence with the north branc ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, where he enjoyed cycling and carpentry. He had been appointed an Officer of 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 ...

in 1936, a Companion of 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 1942 and

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in 1945. He was also a Grand Officer of the Dutch

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

and a Commander of the Order of the Crown of Belgium. He died on 21 November 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hildred, William 1893 births 1986 deaths Alumni of the University of Sheffield British Army personnel of World War I British civil servants People from Kingston upon Hull York and Lancaster Regiment soldiers International Air Transport Association British people in British Jamaica