Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Lord Bridges

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|GCB|GCVO|MC|PC|FRS}}

| image = Sir Edward Bridges in 1945.jpg

| office1 = Cabinet Secretary

| term_start1 = 1938

| term_end1 = 1946

| predecessor1 = Sir Maurice Hankey

| successor1 = Sir Norman Brook

| office2 = Head of the Home Civil Service

| term_start2 = 1945

| term_end2 = 1956

| predecessor2 = Sir Horace Wilson

| successor2 = Sir Norman Brook

| birth_name = Edward Ettingdene Bridges

| birth_date = 4 August 1892

| death_date = {{death-date and age|27 August 1969|4 August 1892}}

| spouse = Katharine Farrer (died in 1986)

| children = 4, including Thomas and Margaret

| father = Robert Bridges

| alma_mater = Magdalen College, Oxford

}}

Edward Ettingdere Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges (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,{{Cite ODNB |last=Chapman |first=Richard A. |title=Bridges, Edward Ettingdene, first Baron Bridges (1892–1969), civil servant |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-32063 |access-date=2023-03-15 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32063 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8}} 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.{{London Gazette|issue=13033|page=31|date=1 January 1917|city=e}}

=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".Churchill, Winston S., The Second World War, Vol. II: Their Finest Hour (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985), 17-18

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.{{cite web | url=https://civilserviceclub.org.uk/getmedia/d810440b-1493-493d-8308-ac88ca573b9c/147542_Civil_Service_Club_History_Book.aspx | title=A Brief History of the Civil Service Club, Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall |access-date=2024-01-29}}. London: Civil Service Club {{ISBN|978-1-5272-6019-1}} 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.{{Cite journal | last1 = Winnifrith | first1 = J. | author-link = John Winnifrith| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1970.0003 | title = Edward Ettingdean Bridges--Baron Bridges. 1892-1969 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 16 | pages = 36–56| year = 1970 | doi-access = | s2cid = 57043215 }} He also published The State and the Arts, Romanes Lecture for 1958, Oxford, and The Treasury (Oxford University Press, 1964).

Personal life

File:Memorial to Robert Bridges and Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges, in St Nicholas-at-Wade.jpg, Kent]]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{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11283174/Margaret-Aston-obituary.html|title = Margaret Aston - obituary}}) 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){{London Gazette |issue=34585 |date=30 December 1938 |page=4 |supp=y}} and in the 1944 New Year Honours was promoted within the same Order as a Knight Grand Cross (GCB).{{London Gazette |issue=36309 |date=31 December 1943 |page=4 |supp=y}} In the 1946 Birthday Honours, Sir Edward was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order as a Knight Grand Cross (GCVO).{{London Gazette |issue=37598 |date=4 July 1946 |page=2764 |supp=y}} Sir Edward was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1952 (FRS).{{cite web |publisher=Royal Society |title=Fellows 1660–2007 |url=https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/fellowship/Fellows1660-2007.pdf |access-date=26 September 2016}} He was then sworn of the Privy Council in the 1953 Coronation Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=39863 |date=26 May 1953 |page=2940 |supp=y}} 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.{{London Gazette |issue=40996 |date=8 February 1957 |page=873}} Lord Bridges was appointed to the Order of the Garter as a Knight Companion (KG) in 1965.{{London Gazette |issue=43633 |date=23 April 1965 |page=4005}}

Arms

{{Infobox COA wide

| name = Edward Ettingdere Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges, KG, GCB, GCVO, MC, PC, FRS

| image = File:Coat of Arms of Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges, KG, GCB, GCVO, MC, PC, FRS.png

| imagesize = 250px

| coronet = An Baron's Coronet

| bannerimage =

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| notes =

| 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.

| torse =

| helm =

| escutcheon = Argent on a cross sable a wreath of laurel fructed Argent a chief checky Sable and Argent.

| supporters =

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| previous_versions =

}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20100614020550/http://life.typepad.com/slumberfogey/Family_Tree/people/p0000000.htm#I533 Family tree]
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080608045311/http://www.leighrayment.com/peers/peersB5.htm Peerage]}}

{{succession box |

before=Sir Maurice Hankey |

title=Cabinet Secretary |

years=1938–1946 |

after=Sir Norman Brook |

}}

{{succession box |

before=Sir Richard Hopkins |

title=Head of the Home Civil Service |

years=1945–1956 |

after=Sir Norman Brook |

}}