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George Mallaby (public servant)
Encyclopedia
Sir Howard "George" Charles Mallaby, KCMG
, OBE
(17 February 1902 – 18 December 1978), was an English
schoolmaster and public servant. He received the US Legion of Merit
in 1946 and was knighted
in 1958. From 1957 to 1959, he was the British High Commissioner to New Zealand.
, Mallaby was the youngest child of an actor, William Calthorpe Mallaby, and of his wife Katharine Mary Frances Miller. He was educated at Radley College
and Merton College, Oxford
, where he was a classicist
and an exhibitioner
. At Radley, he was Cadet CSM
of the school's Officer Training Corps. At Oxford, he graduated BA
in 1923 and MA in 1935.
Mallaby's parents had married in 1893 and he had one elder brother, Aubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby
(born 1899), and one sister, Mary Katharine Helen Mallaby. The children's maternal grandparents were George Miller CB
(born 1833), Assistant Secretary in the Education Department
and a member of the Athenaeum Club
, and his wife Mary Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Peter Aubertin; while their great-grandfather was the Rev. Sir Thomas Combe Miller, 6th Baronet (1781–1864). Mallaby's great-uncles on this side of his family included Sir Charles Hayes Miller, 7th Baronet (1829–1868) and Sir Henry John Miller
(1830–1918), who became Speaker
of the New Zealand Legislative Council
.
After a year of teaching at Clifton College
, Mallaby became a master at St Edward's School, Oxford, in 1924. In 1926, health problems took him to South Africa
, where he taught at the Diocesan College
, Rondebosch
. In 1927 he returned to St Edward's, where he became a housemaster
in 1931. On 22 September 1933 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of the school's Officer Training Corps, resigning his commission on 7 March 1936. He was an exceptional schoolmaster, teaching literature as well as classics, and also coached rugby football
. At St Edward's one of the boys he taught was Robert Gittings
, later a poet and biographer, who after Mallaby's death wrote an article on him for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. From 1935 to 1938 Mallaby was headmaster of St Bees School in Cumberland
, and in 1938 he took the first step towards a new career in the public service by becoming District Commissioner for the special area of west Cumberland, with the task of alleviating the problem of unemployment
.
During the Second World War, Mallaby was briefly deputy regional transport commissioner for the north-western region of England. Late in 1940 he became a general staff officer at the War Office
, and in 1942 was posted to the Joint Planning Staff, becoming its secretary the next year. In this role he attended conferences of the Great Powers at Cairo
(November, 1943), Quebec
(September, 1944), and Potsdam
(July to August, 1945).
Mallaby was commissioned
onto the British Army
's general staff list as a Second Lieutenant on 6 December 1940, promoted Captain
and Major in 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel in 1943, and Colonel in 1945.
With the end of the war, he was secretary of the National Trust
for a year until 1946, then an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Defence
, and from 1948 to 1950 secretary-general of the Western Union Defence Organisation
, a forerunner of NATO. In 1950, he became an under-secretary in the Cabinet Office
and a key civil servant in British foreign and defence policy. In 1954, at the time of the Mau Mau Uprising
, he went to Kenya
as secretary of the war council and council of ministers. From 1955 to 1957 he was deputy secretary of the University Grants Committee
, then from 1957 to 1959 a diplomat, as High Commissioner of the United Kingdom in New Zealand, and in 1959 became first civil service commissioner in charge of recruitment to H. M. Civil Service and the Diplomatic Service
, a role which later brought him work as a private recruitment consultant.
and was elected an Extraordinary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge
, graduating Master of Arts of Cambridge
in 1965.
In 1967 he chaired a committee on local government officers, which led to The Mallaby Report. In 1971, he chaired the Hong Kong
government's Salaries Commission, and in 1972 to 1973 chaired a special committee on the structure of the Rugby Football Union
, which led to a change in the rule for kicking to touch which is said to have revived the game.
Mallaby also became a governor of St Edward's School, Oxford, chairman of the Council of Radley College
, and vice-chairman of Bedford College, London.
In 1932, Mallaby edited a selection of William Wordsworth
's poems for the Cambridge University Press
, in which he included two thousand lines of The Prelude
. In 1950, the centenary of Wordsworth's death, he wrote a critical biography, Wordsworth: a Tribute, and in 1970 he edited Poems by William Wordsworth for the Folio Society
, with an introduction. From my Level (1965) and Each in his Office (1972) are memoirs of his own life.
His last publication was a booklet, Local Government Councillors: their Motives and Manners (1976), in which he quoted Charles Lamb and Samuel Johnson
.
He died at home in Chevington, Suffolk
, on 18 December 1978.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(17 February 1902 – 18 December 1978), was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
schoolmaster and public servant. He received the US Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
in 1946 and was knighted
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
in 1958. From 1957 to 1959, he was the British High Commissioner to New Zealand.
Early life and family
Born in 1902 at WorthingWorthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, Mallaby was the youngest child of an actor, William Calthorpe Mallaby, and of his wife Katharine Mary Frances Miller. He was educated at Radley College
Radley College
Radley College , founded in 1847, is a British independent school for boys on the edge of the English village of Radley, near to the market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and has become a well-established boarding school...
and Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, where he was a classicist
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
and an exhibitioner
Exhibition (scholarship)
-United Kingdom and Ireland:At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, and at Westminster School, Eton College and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit. The...
. At Radley, he was Cadet CSM
Company Sergeant Major
A company sergeant major is the senior non-commissioned soldier of a company in the armies of many Commonwealth countries, responsible for standards and discipline. In combat, his prime responsibility is the supply of ammunition to the company...
of the school's Officer Training Corps. At Oxford, he graduated BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1923 and MA in 1935.
Mallaby's parents had married in 1893 and he had one elder brother, Aubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby
Aubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby
Brigadier Aubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby was a British Indian Army officer killed in a shootout during the Battle of Surabaya in what was then the Netherlands East Indies during the Indonesian National Revolution...
(born 1899), and one sister, Mary Katharine Helen Mallaby. The children's maternal grandparents were George Miller CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(born 1833), Assistant Secretary in the Education Department
Ministry of Education (United Kingdom)
The administration of education policy in the United Kingdom began in the 19th century. Official mandation of education began with the Elementary Education Act 1870 for England and Wales, and the Education Act 1872 for Scotland...
and a member of the Athenaeum Club
Athenaeum Club, London
The Athenaeum Club, usually just referred to as the Athenaeum, is a notable London club with its Clubhouse located at 107 Pall Mall, London, England, at the corner of Waterloo Place....
, and his wife Mary Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Peter Aubertin; while their great-grandfather was the Rev. Sir Thomas Combe Miller, 6th Baronet (1781–1864). Mallaby's great-uncles on this side of his family included Sir Charles Hayes Miller, 7th Baronet (1829–1868) and Sir Henry John Miller
Henry Miller (New Zealand politician)
Sir Henry John Miller was a New Zealand politician.Miller was the second son of The Rev. Sir Thomas Combe Miller, 6th Baronet and his wife Martha Holmes, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Holmes, of Bungay, Suffolk. He was educated at Eton College and admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 8 July 1848...
(1830–1918), who became Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the New Zealand Legislative Council
New Zealand Legislative Council
The Legislative Council of New Zealand was the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 until 1951. Unlike the lower house, the New Zealand House of Representatives, the Legislative Council was appointed.-Role:...
.
Career
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, Mallaby became a master at St Edward's School, Oxford, in 1924. In 1926, health problems took him to South Africa
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
, where he taught at the Diocesan College
Diocesan College
The Diocesan College, or Bishops as it is more commonly known, is an independent, all-boys school situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town, South Africa...
, Rondebosch
Rondebosch
Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with a medium-size shopping area, a small business district as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town.-History:...
. In 1927 he returned to St Edward's, where he became a housemaster
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
in 1931. On 22 September 1933 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of the school's Officer Training Corps, resigning his commission on 7 March 1936. He was an exceptional schoolmaster, teaching literature as well as classics, and also coached rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
. At St Edward's one of the boys he taught was Robert Gittings
Robert Gittings
Robert William Victor Gittings CBE , was an English writer, biographer, BBC Radio producer, playwright and minor poet...
, later a poet and biographer, who after Mallaby's death wrote an article on him for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. From 1935 to 1938 Mallaby was headmaster of St Bees School in Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, and in 1938 he took the first step towards a new career in the public service by becoming District Commissioner for the special area of west Cumberland, with the task of alleviating the problem of unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
.
During the Second World War, Mallaby was briefly deputy regional transport commissioner for the north-western region of England. Late in 1940 he became a general staff officer at the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
, and in 1942 was posted to the Joint Planning Staff, becoming its secretary the next year. In this role he attended conferences of the Great Powers at Cairo
Cairo Conference
The Cairo Conference of November 22–26, 1943, held in Cairo, Egypt, addressed the Allied position against Japan during World War II and made decisions about postwar Asia...
(November, 1943), Quebec
Second Quebec Conference
The Second Quebec Conference was a high level military conference held during World War II between the British, Canadian and American governments. The conference was held in Quebec City, September 12, 1944 - September 16, 1944, and was the second conference to be held in Quebec, after "QUADRANT"...
(September, 1944), and Potsdam
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
(July to August, 1945).
Mallaby was commissioned
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
onto the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's general staff list as a Second Lieutenant on 6 December 1940, promoted Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
and Major in 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel in 1943, and Colonel in 1945.
With the end of the war, he was secretary of the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
for a year until 1946, then an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
, and from 1948 to 1950 secretary-general of the Western Union Defence Organisation
Western European Union
The Western European Union was an international organisation tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels , an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels...
, a forerunner of NATO. In 1950, he became an under-secretary in the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
and a key civil servant in British foreign and defence policy. In 1954, at the time of the Mau Mau Uprising
Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960...
, he went to Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
as secretary of the war council and council of ministers. From 1955 to 1957 he was deputy secretary of the University Grants Committee
University Grants Committee (UK)
The University Grants Committee was an advisory committee of the British government, which advised on the distribution of grant funding amongst the British universities. It was in existence from 1919 until 1989...
, then from 1957 to 1959 a diplomat, as High Commissioner of the United Kingdom in New Zealand, and in 1959 became first civil service commissioner in charge of recruitment to H. M. Civil Service and the Diplomatic Service
Diplomatic service
Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel enjoy diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to other countries...
, a role which later brought him work as a private recruitment consultant.
Retirement
In 1964, Mallaby retired to live in East AngliaEast Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
and was elected an Extraordinary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.In 1958, a Trust was established with Sir Winston Churchill as its Chairman of Trustees, to build and endow a college for 60 fellows and 540 Students as a national and Commonwealth memorial to Winston Churchill; its...
, graduating Master of Arts of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in 1965.
In 1967 he chaired a committee on local government officers, which led to The Mallaby Report. In 1971, he chaired the Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
government's Salaries Commission, and in 1972 to 1973 chaired a special committee on the structure of the Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
, which led to a change in the rule for kicking to touch which is said to have revived the game.
Mallaby also became a governor of St Edward's School, Oxford, chairman of the Council of Radley College
Radley College
Radley College , founded in 1847, is a British independent school for boys on the edge of the English village of Radley, near to the market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and has become a well-established boarding school...
, and vice-chairman of Bedford College, London.
Publications
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
's poems for the Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, in which he included two thousand lines of The Prelude
The Prelude
The Prelude; or, Growth of a Poet's Mind is an autobiographical, "philosophical" poem in blank verse by the English poet William Wordsworth. Wordsworth wrote the first version of the poem when he was 28, and worked over the rest of it for his long life without publishing it...
. In 1950, the centenary of Wordsworth's death, he wrote a critical biography, Wordsworth: a Tribute, and in 1970 he edited Poems by William Wordsworth for the Folio Society
Folio Society
The Folio Society is a book club based in London that produces new editions of classic books. Their books are notable for their high quality bindings and original illustrations...
, with an introduction. From my Level (1965) and Each in his Office (1972) are memoirs of his own life.
His last publication was a booklet, Local Government Councillors: their Motives and Manners (1976), in which he quoted Charles Lamb and Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
.
Private life
On 2 April 1955, Mallaby married Elizabeth Greenwood Locker, a daughter of Hubert Edward Brooke, a banker, and the widow of J. W. D. Locker, gaining one stepson and two stepdaughters.He died at home in Chevington, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, on 18 December 1978.
Honours
- Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, 1945 - Member of the Legion of MeritLegion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
(USA), January 1946 - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, 1953 - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1958