George Harvie-Watt

Sir
George Steven Harvie-Watt
Bt
Sir George Steven Harvie-Watt Bt
	Sir George Steven Harvie-Watt in 1945
Member of Parliament ; for Keighley
	In office; 27 October 1931 – 25 October 1935
Preceded by	Hastings Lees-Smith
Succeeded by	Hastings Lees-Smith
Member of Parliament ; for Richmond (Surrey)
	In office; 25 February 1937 – 18 September 1959
Preceded by	William Ray
Succeeded by	Anthony Royle
Majority	12,837 (45.4%)
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
	In office; 1941–1945
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Brendan Bracken
Succeeded by	Geoffrey de freitas
Personal details
Born	23 August 1903
Died	18 December 1989 (aged 86)
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Jane Elizabeth Taylor (m. 4 January 1932)
Children	3
Education	George Watson's College
Alma mater	University of Glasgow; University of Edinburgh
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant-Colonel; Brigadier
Unit	Territorial Army Royal Engineers
Awards	Efficiency Decoration (TD)

Sir George Steven Harvie-Watt, 1st Baronet, QC, TD, DL, FRSA (23 August 1903 – 18 December 1989) was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician.

Harvie-Watt studied at George Watson's College in Edinburgh, then at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh. In 1924, he was commissioned into the Territorial Army Royal Engineers. In 1930, he became a barrister at Inner Temple, while at the 1931 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Keighley. He lost his seat in 1935, but re-entered Parliament by winning a by-election for the seat of Richmond (Surrey) in 1937. He immediately became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Board of Trade, and was also promoted in the Territorial Army: to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1938, and Brigadier in 1941.^[1]

From 1941 to 1945, Harvie-Watt served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Winston Churchill. He was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (TD) in 1942 for 20 years service in the Territorial Army. At the end of World War II, he became a Queen's Counsel and was created a baronet (see Harvie-Watt baronets).^[2] In 1948 he became an aide-de-camp to George VI; on the king's death, he filled the same position for Elizabeth II, also acting as a member of the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland. He left Parliament at the 1959 general election, becoming the chairman of Consolidated Gold Fields.^[1] By 1969, he was one of the highest paid people in the United Kingdom.^[3]

He was Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London from 1966 to 1989 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1973.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b The Papers of Sir George Harvie-Watt, Churchill Archives Centre
^ "No. 37292". The London Gazette. 2 October 1945. p. 4862.
^ Lumsden, Andrew; O'Connor, Gillian (8 September 1969). "The pay, the power and the wealth at the top of British industry". The Times. p. 21.
^ Sir George Steven Harvie-Watt, 1st Bt.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Harvie-Watt

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Hastings Lees-Smith	Member of Parliament for Keighley 1931–1935	Succeeded by Hastings Lees-Smith
Preceded by William Ray	Member of Parliament for Richmond (Surrey) 1937–1959	Succeeded by Anthony Royle
Government offices
Preceded by Brendan Bracken	Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister 1941–1945	Succeeded by Geoffrey de freitas
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Bathgate) 1945–1989	Succeeded by James Harvie-Watt

[papers-1] The Papers of Sir George Harvie-Watt, Churchill Archives Centre

[2] "No. 37292". The London Gazette. 2 October 1945. p. 4862.

[3] Lumsden, Andrew; O'Connor, Gillian (8 September 1969). "The pay, the power and the wealth at the top of British industry". The Times. p. 21.

[4] Sir George Steven Harvie-Watt, 1st Bt.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
to Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Carr-Gomm 1906–1908
to H. H. Asquith	Howard 1908–1909 Lyell 1908–1915
to David Lloyd George	Barran 1916–1918 D. Davies 1916–1918 Sutherland 1916–1918, 1919–1920 Astor 1918 Sassoon 1920–1922
to Bonar Law	Davidson 1922–1923
to Stanley Baldwin	Herbert 1923–1924, 1924–1927 Rhys 1927–1929 Geoffery-Lloyd 1935 Dugdale 1935–1937
to Ramsay MacDonald	Weir 1924, 1929–1931 R. Morrison 1929–1931 Markham 1931–1932 Glyn 1931–1935 Worthington 1931–1935
to Neville Chamberlain	Douglas-Home 1937–1940
to Winston Churchill	Bracken 1940–1941 Harvie-Watt 1941–1945 Soames 1952–1955
to Clement Attlee	de Freitas 1945–1946 Moyle 1946–1951
to Anthony Eden	Carr 1955 Allan 1955–1956
to Harold Macmillan	Barber 1957–1959 K. Cunningham 1959–1963
to Alec Douglas-Home	Pearson 1963–1964
to Harold Wilson	Fernyhough 1964–1967 Shore 1965–1966 H. Davies 1967–1970 Varley 1968–1969 Hamling 1974–1975 Marks 1975 Tomlinson 1975–1976
to Edward Heath	Kitson 1970–1974
to James Callaghan	J. Cunningham 1976–1977 Stott 1977–1979
to Margaret Thatcher	Gow 1979–1983 Alison 1983–1987 Hamilton 1987–1988 Lennox-Boyd 1988–1990 P. Morrison 1990
to John Major	Bright 1990–1994 Ward 1994–1997
to Tony Blair	Coffey 1997–1998 Grocott 1997–2001 Hanson 2001–2005 Hill 2005–2007
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