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The Right Honourable
The Lord Bridges
KG GCB GCVO MC PC FRS
The Right Honourable The Lord Bridges KG GCB GCVO MC PC FRS
Cabinet Secretary
	In office; 1938–1946
Preceded by	Sir Maurice Hankey
Succeeded by	Sir Norman Brook
Head of the Home Civil Service
	In office; 1945–1956
Preceded by	Sir Horace Wilson
Succeeded by	Sir Norman Brook
Personal details
Born	Edward Ettingdene Bridges; 4 August 1892
Died	27 August 1969 (aged 77)
Spouse	Katharine Farrer (died in 1986)
Children	4, including Thomas and Margaret
Parent	Robert Bridges (father);
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford

Edward Ettingdere Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges, KG, GCB, GCVO, MC, PC, FRS^[1] (4 August 1892 – 27 August 1969) was a British civil servant.

Early life

Bridges was born on 4 August 1892 in Yattendon in Berkshire. He was the son of Robert Bridges, later Poet Laureate, and the pianist (Mary) Monica Waterhouse,^[2] daughter of the architect Alfred Waterhouse and niece of Price Waterhouse co-founder, Edwin Waterhouse. He was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Career

Military service

Bridges then fought in the First World War with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, eventually achieving the rank of captain and being awarded the Military Cross.^[3]

Public service

He later joined the Civil Service and in 1938 he was appointed Cabinet Secretary, succeeding Sir Maurice Hankey. Bridges remained in this post until 1946, when he was made Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and Head of the Home Civil Service, a position he held until 1956. In his post-war memoirs, Winston Churchill praised Bridges' wartime work as Secretary to the War Cabinet, writing that not only was Bridges "an extremely competent and tireless worker, but he was also a man of exceptional force, ability, and personal charm, without a trace of jealousy in his nature".^[4]

During his time as the Head of the Home Civil Service, Bridges, promoted the opening of the Civil Service Club which was a gift from Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by her wish, to be applied to some object of general benefit to the Civil and Foreign Services using the balance of the Wedding Fund collected by the Home Civil Service and the Foreign Service on the occasion of her wedding to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN, Duke of Edinburgh.^[5] The Civil Service Club has a meeting room named in honour of Bridges.

After his retirement, Bridges served as Chancellor of the University of Reading. He was given honorary degrees from several universities and appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society.^[1] He also published The State and the Arts, Romanes Lecture for 1958, Oxford, and The Treasury (Oxford University Press, 1964).

Personal life

Bridges married Katharine Dianthe Farrer, daughter of Thomas Farrer, 2nd Baron Farrer, on 6 June 1922. They had four children:

Shirley Frances Bridges (1924–2015)
Thomas Edward Bridges, 2nd Baron Bridges (1927–2017), a diplomat
Robert Bridges (1930–2015) (an architect)
Margaret Evelyn Bridges (1932–2014^[6]) a medieval historian. married, firstly, Trevor Aston, secondly Paul Buxton.

Bridges died at Winterfold Heath, Surrey, on 27 August 1969, aged 77. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Thomas Edward Bridges, a diplomat who served as British Ambassador to Italy from 1983 to 1987.

Honours

In the 1939 New Year Honours, Bridges was appointed to the Order of the Bath as a Knight Commander (KCB)^[7] and in the 1944 New Year Honours was promoted within the same Order as a Knight Grand Cross (GCB).^[8] In the 1946 Birthday Honours, Sir Edward was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order as a Knight Grand Cross (GCVO).^[9] Sir Edward was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1952 (FRS).^[10] He was then sworn of the Privy Council in the 1953 Coronation Honours.^[11] In 1957, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Bridges, of Headley in the County of Surrey, and of St Nicholas at Wade in the County of Kent.^[12] Lord Bridges was appointed to the Order of the Garter as a Knight Companion (KG) in 1965.^[13]

Arms

Coat of arms of Edward Ettingdere Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges, KG, GCB, GCVO, MC, PC, FRS
	Coronet An Baron's Coronet Crest A man's head and shoulders proper Crined and bearded Sable wreathed around the temples Argent the ribands Gules vested paly of six Sable and Argent. Escutcheon Argent on a cross sable a wreath of laurel fructed Argent a chief checky Sable and Argent.

References

^ ^a ^b Winnifrith, J. (1970). "Edward Ettingdean Bridges--Baron Bridges. 1892-1969". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 16: 36–56. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1970.0003. S2CID 57043215.
^ Chapman, Richard A. (23 September 2004). "Bridges, Edward Ettingdene, first Baron Bridges (1892–1969), civil servant". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32063. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 15 March 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "No. 13033". The Edinburgh Gazette. 1 January 1917. p. 31.
^ Churchill, Winston S., The Second World War, Vol. II: Their Finest Hour (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985), 17-18
^ "A Brief History of the Civil Service Club, Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall". Retrieved 29 January 2024.. London: Civil Service Club ISBN 978-1-5272-6019-1
^ "Margaret Aston - obituary".
^ "No. 34585". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1938. p. 4.
^ "No. 36309". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 4.
^ "No. 37598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 July 1946. p. 2764.
^ "Fellows 1660–2007" (PDF). Royal Society. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
^ "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 May 1953. p. 2940.
^ "No. 40996". The London Gazette. 8 February 1957. p. 873.
^ "No. 43633". The London Gazette. 23 April 1965. p. 4005.

External links

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Maurice Hankey	Cabinet Secretary 1938–1946	Succeeded by Sir Norman Brook
Preceded by Sir Richard Hopkins	Head of the Home Civil Service 1945–1956	Succeeded by Sir Norman Brook
Preceded by Sir Richard Hopkins	Permanent Secretary to the Treasury 1945-1956	Succeeded by Sir Norman Brook Sir Roger Makins
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Bridges 1957–1969	Succeeded by Thomas Bridges
Academic offices
Preceded by The Viscount Templewood	Chancellor of the University of Reading 1959–1969	Succeeded by The Lord Sherfield