Wilfrid Spender
Encyclopedia
Sir Wilfrid Bliss Spender, KCB
, DSO
, MC
(6 October 1876 — 21 December 1960) was an army officer, colonial administrator and civil servant - being responsible for laying the foundations for the civil service of Northern Ireland
. He served as Secretary to the Northern Ireland Cabinet, 1921-1925, Permanent Secretary
to the Ministry of Finance, 1925-1944. He was knighted in 1929. His wife, Lady Spender (née Alice Lilian Dean; 1880-1966), was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force Nursing Corps and worked in the Ulster Division Comforts Fund during World War I
. Later in life she became a noted diarist.
in Plymouth
; his father and two elder brothers were later drowned whilst boating at Whitsand Bay
outside Plymouth when he was one year old.
and the Staff College, Camberley
. He obtained a commission first in the Devon artillery
. In 1897 he joined the Royal Artillery, seeing service in Bermuda
, Canada
, Malta
, England
, Ireland
, and India
. After Camberley he was nominated to attend a naval war course, one of the first two army staff officers to be so chosen. In 1909 became a member of the home defence section of the Imperial Defence Committee, which was then involved with the general defence of the United Kingdom.
He organized, and partly financed, a national petition against Home Rule
, and helped establish the Junior Imperial League. He accepted an invitation to stand for Parliament
, but withdrew when the rules were changed to place officers on half pay if they entered parliament. He signed the Ulster Covenant
when it was opened for signature in England.
In 1913 he was allowed to retire from his army commission, refusing to resign with the rank of Captain and £120 per year. A confidential inspection report of 1913 commented that Captain Spender had been led away by a ‘too active conscience’ and had been very injudicious, risking his prospects in life. While disputing his leaving the army, feeling his services were required in Ulster, he sought legal advice from Sir Edward Carson; Carson invited Spender to Belfast to help organise the Ulster Volunteer Force. During a period of leave from service in India
he met once again an old friend, Alice Lilian Dean, they were married within a few weeks. After a ten-day honeymoon
he and his wife travelled to Belfast where Spender became Quartermaster General of the UVF, while remaining a director of his newspaper in Plymouth. In April 1914 he was involved in co-ordinating the distribution of the UVF's rifles imported in the "Larne gun-running" incident.
for his part in the assault on Thiepval
. He also won the DSO
and was mentioned in despatches four times. In 1916 he was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, and served with Lord Cavan's
corps, and then at advanced general headquarters working under Lord Haig
.
He was strongly opposed to accepting a six-county option for the partition of Ireland
, and on these grounds he declined an invitation from Carson to contest an Ulster constituency at Westminster. About the same time he gave some support to moves to launch a national party in England — "to promote Reform, the Union and Defence" — and considered seeking nomination for parliament in a constituency in Devon
or Cornwall
. Following the war he joined the Ministry of Pensions in London, but in 1920 he was approached by Carson and Craig and asked to return to Belfast to help reorganize the UVF. The result was the formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary
. In 1921 he became Cabinet Secretary in Northern Ireland and, in 1925, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance. He opposed any discrimination on religious grounds in the civil service, but was unable to prevent Unionist members of the Northern Ireland parliament dominating the selection boards for other ranks. He was never a member of the Orange Order, despite claims to the contrary from certain quarters.
. He was survived by Lady Spender (died 1966), whom he married in 1913, and their only child, Patricia Daffodil (born Belfast, 17 March 1923; married Richard G. Dingwall on 2 November 1946; killed in a climbing accident in Switzerland).
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...
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(6 October 1876 — 21 December 1960) was an army officer, colonial administrator and civil servant - being responsible for laying the foundations for the civil service of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. He served as Secretary to the Northern Ireland Cabinet, 1921-1925, Permanent Secretary
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
to the Ministry of Finance, 1925-1944. He was knighted in 1929. His wife, Lady Spender (née Alice Lilian Dean; 1880-1966), was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force Nursing Corps and worked in the Ulster Division Comforts Fund during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Later in life she became a noted diarist.
Family life
Wilfrid Bliss Spender was the son of Edward and Ellen (née Rendle) Spender. His father was co-founder of the Western Morning NewsWestern Morning News
The Western Morning News is a politically independent daily regional newspaper founded in 1860 and covering Devon and Cornwall and parts of Somerset and Dorset.-Organisation:...
in Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
; his father and two elder brothers were later drowned whilst boating at Whitsand Bay
Whitsand Bay
Whitsand Bay, situated in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom runs from Rame Head in the east to Portwrinkle in the west. It is characterised by sheer, high cliffs, dramatic scenery and long stretches of sandy beaches...
outside Plymouth when he was one year old.
Education/service
He was educated at Winchester CollegeWinchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and the Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army from 1802 to 1997, with periods of closure during major wars. In 1997 it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.-Origins:...
. He obtained a commission first in the Devon artillery
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. In 1897 he joined the Royal Artillery, seeing service in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. After Camberley he was nominated to attend a naval war course, one of the first two army staff officers to be so chosen. In 1909 became a member of the home defence section of the Imperial Defence Committee, which was then involved with the general defence of the United Kingdom.
He organized, and partly financed, a national petition against Home Rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
, and helped establish the Junior Imperial League. He accepted an invitation to stand for Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, but withdrew when the rules were changed to place officers on half pay if they entered parliament. He signed the Ulster Covenant
Ulster Covenant
The Ulster Covenant was signed by just under half a million of men and women from Ulster, on and before September 28, 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill, introduced by the Government in that same year...
when it was opened for signature in England.
In 1913 he was allowed to retire from his army commission, refusing to resign with the rank of Captain and £120 per year. A confidential inspection report of 1913 commented that Captain Spender had been led away by a ‘too active conscience’ and had been very injudicious, risking his prospects in life. While disputing his leaving the army, feeling his services were required in Ulster, he sought legal advice from Sir Edward Carson; Carson invited Spender to Belfast to help organise the Ulster Volunteer Force. During a period of leave from service in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
he met once again an old friend, Alice Lilian Dean, they were married within a few weeks. After a ten-day honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
he and his wife travelled to Belfast where Spender became Quartermaster General of the UVF, while remaining a director of his newspaper in Plymouth. In April 1914 he was involved in co-ordinating the distribution of the UVF's rifles imported in the "Larne gun-running" incident.
The Great War
In July 1914 Spender, as a retired officer, was told to hold himself ready to take up an appointment with the eastern command in Chatham. He returned to England and, after the outbreak of war, was transferred as general staff officer to the new 36th (Ulster) Division. He served with the Ulster division until 1916, and was present at the Battle of the Somme, when he won the Military CrossMilitary Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
for his part in the assault on Thiepval
Thiepval
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a major war memorial to 72,191 missing British and South African men who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918 who have no known grave...
. He also won the DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
and was mentioned in despatches four times. In 1916 he was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, and served with Lord Cavan's
Frederick Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan
Field Marshal Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, KP, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE was a British Army officer and Chief of the Imperial General Staff.-Army career:...
corps, and then at advanced general headquarters working under Lord Haig
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC, was a British senior officer during World War I. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 to the end of the War...
.
He was strongly opposed to accepting a six-county option for the partition of Ireland
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
, and on these grounds he declined an invitation from Carson to contest an Ulster constituency at Westminster. About the same time he gave some support to moves to launch a national party in England — "to promote Reform, the Union and Defence" — and considered seeking nomination for parliament in a constituency in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
or Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. Following the war he joined the Ministry of Pensions in London, but in 1920 he was approached by Carson and Craig and asked to return to Belfast to help reorganize the UVF. The result was the formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary
Ulster Special Constabulary
The Ulster Special Constabulary was a reserve police force in Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the founding of Northern Ireland. It was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency...
. In 1921 he became Cabinet Secretary in Northern Ireland and, in 1925, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance. He opposed any discrimination on religious grounds in the civil service, but was unable to prevent Unionist members of the Northern Ireland parliament dominating the selection boards for other ranks. He was never a member of the Orange Order, despite claims to the contrary from certain quarters.
Later life
Sir Wilfrid retired in 1944 and returned to England in 1955, he died of heart failure on 21 December 1960 at the East Hill Hotel, his home at Liss in HampshireHampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. He was survived by Lady Spender (died 1966), whom he married in 1913, and their only child, Patricia Daffodil (born Belfast, 17 March 1923; married Richard G. Dingwall on 2 November 1946; killed in a climbing accident in Switzerland).
Quote
- "I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the 1st. July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world." (Cpt Wilfred Spender, 2nd July 1916)
Sources
- Oxford Biography Index profile (subscription required for full reading)
- London Gazette notice of Spender's KCB (1929)
- The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography