Wyndham Raymond Portal, 1st Viscount Portal, (9 April 1885 – 6 May 1949), was a British politician.

Early life

The eldest son of Sir William Wyndam Portal, 2nd Baronet, and Florence Elizabeth Mary Glyn, daughter of Hon. St Leger Glyn, 2nd son of George Glyn, 1st Baron Wolverton, he was educated at Eton and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. In 1909 he married Lady Louise Rosemary Kathleen Virginia Cairns, only child of Arthur Cairns, 2nd Earl Cairns.

Military service

He was commissioned into the Hampshire Yeomanry in 1903, was promoted

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1905, and transferred to the 9th Lancers later the same year. He transferred to the 1st Life Guards as a second lieutenant in 1908 and was promoted lieutenant again later the same year, but left the Army in 1911. He rejoined the Hampshire Yeomanry in 1914 and served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was promoted

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1914 while serving as

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry. Transferring back to the Life Guards (

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...

) in 1915, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1916 when he took command of the Household Battalion. He relinquished command of the battalion in 1918 and reverted to the rank of captain, but was soon promoted

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and attached to the Machine Gun Corps as a battalion commander, again with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He resigned his commission in 1919.

Later life

Returning to civilian life, he became chairman of the Portal family's banknote paper mill company in

Laverstoke Laverstoke ( ) is a village in north west Hampshire, England. The On the other side of the River Test there is the settlement at Freefolk which is included in the Laverstock census return. In the early 18th century, Laverstoke Mill was purchased ...

Portals Limited Portals is a British papermaking company that has had two distinct existences as an independent business, from 1711 to 1995, and from 2018 onwards. It has been variously known as Portals Limited, Portals Paper Limited, and Portals De La Rue Limit ...

, in 1919Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Portal, Wyndham Raymond
Retrieved 31 October 2012.The Basingstoke Gazette, 12 August 2012: ''Portal family from Overton helped organise the 1948 Olympic Games''
Retrieved 31 October 2012. which had manufactured banknote paper for the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

since 1724. and became the company's chairman when his father died in 1931. In 1929 he purchased the luxury steam yacht, ''SY Star of India'' (built as ''SY Lady Torfida'' in 1888 for Sir William Pearce). In 1936, he was one of the main investors in J. Arthur Rank's General Cinema Finance Corporation, the company which one year later would become the British film industry's most important company,

The Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertical integration, ve ...

. He became General Cinema Finance Corporation's chairman, and worked very closely with J. Arthur Rank for many years.Geoffrey Macnab: ''J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry'' (1994)
pp. 21–23. Retrieved 31 October 2012. In 1935, he was made chairman of the Bacon Development Board, and, in April 1939, he was made was regional commissioner for Wales under the Civil Defence Scheme. In 1940, he became the chairman of the Coal Production Council, and he served in government as Additional Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply from 1940 to 1942, and as Minister of Works and Planning from 1942 to 1944. In 1935, he accepted the chairmanship of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

and thus led the British team in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. That experience made him the perfect president of the 1948 Olympic Games in London. After the war, in 1945, he became the last chairman of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

(GWR). A GWR Castle Class locomotive, numbered 7000, was named ''Viscount Portal'' in his honour in 1946. The GWR ceased to exist upon nationalisation and amalgamation into

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

in 1948. Portal was

Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire. Since 1688, all the Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Hampshire. From 1889 until 1959, the administrative county was named the County of Southampton. * ...

from 1947 until his death in 1949.

Titles and honours

In 1917, he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

and appointed a

Member of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(MVO). Portal succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1931. In 1935 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Portal, of

. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1942, created Viscount Portal in 1945 and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1949. On his death in 1949, Portal was succeeded to the baronetcy by his uncle, Sir Spencer Portal as the 4th Baronet.

References

*'' Who Was Who (UK)'' , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Portal, Wyndham Portal, 1st Viscount 1885 births 1949 deaths 9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I British Life Guards officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Hampshire Yeomanry officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Lord-lieutenants of Hampshire Machine Gun Corps officers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Royal Victorian Order Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry officers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Barons created by George V Viscounts created by George VI People from Laverstoke People educated at Eton College Wyndham