William Fittall
{{Short description|British civil servant (1953–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Sir William Robert Fittall (26 July 1953 – 10 March 2022) was a British civil servant and Anglican lay reader. From 2002 to 2015, he served as the secretary-general of the Archbishops' Council and the General Synod of the Church of England. He had previously worked as a civil servant in the Home Office, the Northern Ireland Office, and the Cabinet Office.[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U15843 "Fittall, Sir William (Robert)"], Who's Who 2017. Fittall died on 10 March 2022, at the age of 68.{{cite news |last1=England |first1=Church of |title=Sir William Fittall |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/sir-william-fittall |access-date=14 March 2022 |publisher=Church of England |date=11 March 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Paflin |first1=Glyn |title=Sir William Fittall, former Secretary-General of the General Synod, dies, aged 68 |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/18-march/news/uk/sir-william-fittall-former-secretary-general-of-the-general-synod-dies-aged-68 |access-date=11 March 2022 |publisher=Church Times |date=11 March 2022}}
Early life and education
Fittall was born on 26 July 1953.{{cite web |title=Fittall, Sir William (Robert), (born 26 July 1953), Secretary-General, Archbishop's Council and General Synod of the Church of England, 2002–15 |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U15843 |website=Who's Who 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=11 March 2022 |language=en |date=1 December 2019}} He was educated at Dover Grammar School for Boys, a state grammar school in Dover, Kent. From 1972 to 1975, he read modern languages and classics at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, his BA was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree.{{cite web |title=Sir William Fittall |url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sir-william-fittall-3005bb122 |website=linkedin |access-date=11 March 2022}} He later studied at the École nationale d'administration in Paris from 1980 to 1981.
Career
Fittall joined the Home Office as a civil servant in 1975. He was a private secretary to a minister of state at the Home Office from 1979 to 1980, and a private secretary to the home secretary from 1985 to 1987. He was principal private secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1992 to 1993. He ended his Civil Service career as associate political director of the Northern Ireland Office from 2000 to 2002.
From 1977, Fittall was an Anglican lay reader. Until 2011, he served and worshipped at St Mark's Church, Battersea Rise, a conservative evangelical church in the Church of England's Diocese of Southwark.{{cite news |last1=Paflin |first1=Glyn |title=Sir William Fittall, former Secretary-General of the General Synod, dies, aged 68 |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/18-march/news/uk/sir-william-fittall-former-secretary-general-of-the-general-synod-dies-aged-68 |access-date=11 March 2022 |work=Church Times |date=11 March 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Andrew |title=Money becomes new church battleground |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/23/church-of-england-money |access-date=11 March 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=23 May 2012 |language=en}} At the time of his death, he was a lay reader in the benefice of St Stephen Lympne and St Peter & St Paul, Saltwood, in the Diocese of Canterbury.{{cite web |title=St. Peter & St. Paul, Saltwood: Worship Team |url=https://www.lympne-st-stephens.org.uk/?page_id=92 |website=lympne-st-stephens.org.uk |access-date=11 March 2022}}{{cite web |title=St Stephens Lympne: Worship Team |url=https://www.lympne-st-stephens.org.uk/?page_id=79 |website=lympne-st-stephens.org.uk |access-date=11 March 2022}}
Honours
In the 2016 New Year Honours List, Fittall was made a Knight Bachelor "for services to the Church of England".{{cite web |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2016/1-january/news/uk/william-fittall-knighted-in-new-year-s-honours-list |title= William Fittall knighted in New Year's Honours List |last= Davies |first= Madeleine |date= 30 December 2015 |website= Church Times|publisher= Hymns Ancient and Modern |access-date=1 April 2022 }} In June 2017, he was awarded the Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England by the Archbishop of Canterbury "for his outstanding and sustained contribution to the Church of England and to the Archbishops' Council in particular".{{cite web|title=The Archbishop of Canterbury's Awards: Citations in Alphabetical Order|url=http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/data/files/resources/5876/2017-Citations-Alphabetical.pdf|website=Archbishop of Canterbury|accessdate=14 July 2017|date=9 June 2017}}
References
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External links
- [https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/sir-william-fittall Obituary], The Church of England, 11 March 2022
- [https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/18-march/news/uk/sir-william-fittall-former-secretary-general-of-the-general-synod-dies-aged-68 Obituary], Church Times, 11 March 2022
- [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/03/16/sir-william-fittall-william-fittall-public-servant-brought-talents/ Obituary], The Daily Telegraph, 16 March 2022
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Category:British civil servants
Category:Civil servants in the Home Office
Category:Civil servants in the Cabinet Office
Category:Civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office
Category:People educated at Dover Grammar School for Boys
Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Category:École nationale d'administration alumni
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