Sir Henry Noel Bunbury (29 November 1876 – 2 September 1968) 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 ...

and

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

. The eldest of three sons and two daughters of

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 English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

clerk Thomas Henry Bunbury (1840–1895), a descendant of

Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers PC (20 October 1650 – 25 December 1717)—known as Sir Robert Shirley, 7th Baronet, from 1669 to 1677 and Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, from 1677 to 1711—was an English peer and courtier. Sh ...

, and Marion, daughter of Rev. Robert Marshall Martin, vicar of

Thorpe, Surrey Thorpe is a village in Surrey, England, between Egham, Virginia Water and Chertsey. It is centred WSW of Charing Cross and its land adjoins the circle of the M25, near the M3 — its ward covers . Its traditional area with natural bou ...

, Bunbury grew up at

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

. Bunbury was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

(where, as Sir Thomas White Scholar, he took a first-class degree in Literae humaniores in 1899) and joined the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in 1900. In 1903 he was transferred to the

Exchequer and Audit Department The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The NAO also carries out valu ...

and in 1909 was appointed an Officer of Accounts at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

. In 1912, he was a founder member of the

National Health Insurance Commission National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famil ...

, serving as its first Accountant and Comptroller-General, and later as a Commissioner from 1913. In 1917 he was appointed Accountant-General and Financial Adviser to the Ministry of Shipping and in 1920 Comptroller and Accountant-General of the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

, serving in the post until his retirement in 1937. Bunbury was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the 1913 Birthday Honours and

Knight Commander 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 ...

(KCB) in the 1920 New Year War Honours. In 1911, he married Dorothea (d. 1951), youngest daughter of railway engineer Walter Merivale,

MICE A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, of

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

, who had lived and worked in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, and

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

(including as Manager of the

Barbados Railway The Barbados Railway was a -long narrow-gauge railway on Barbados with a gauge of initially 1,067 mm (3 feet 6 inch) and later 762 mm (2 feet 6 inch). It had 98 bridges, very tight radii and a steep incline. It was used from 1883 to ...

). Dorothea's brother was the actor

Philip Merivale Philip Merivale (2 November 1886 – 12 March 1946) was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter. Life and career Merivale was born in Rehutia, Manickpur, India, to railway engineer Walter Merivale (1855–1902) and Emma Magda ...

. The Bunburys had seven daughters; the youngest, Rachel, married the diplomat

Thomas Bridges, 2nd Baron Bridges Thomas Edward Bridges, 2nd Baron Bridges, (27 November 1927 – 27 May 2017) was a British hereditary peer and diplomat. Early life Bridges was born on 27 November 1927 to Edward Bridges, later Cabinet Secretary. His grandfather was Rober ...

.The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda, ed. Peter W. Hammond, Sutton Publishing, 1998, page 819

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

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 ...

'', 7 September 1968 *''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunbury, Henry 1876 births 1968 deaths People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Civil servants in the Exchequer and Audit Department Civil servants in HM Treasury Civil servants in the Ministry of National Insurance Civil servants in the Ministry of Shipping (United Kingdom) Civil servants in the General Post Office Members of HM Government Finance Service British accountants Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath