The Papers of Sir George Harvie-Watt

Fonds

Reference Code: GBR/0014/HARV

Scope and Contents

The collection comprises Sir George's reports to Sir Winston Churchill as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. The reports cover the business of the House of Commons and Harvie Watt's observations on the mood of the Members of the House and reactions to WSC's speeches, policies, and the events of the Second World War. They have been annotated in red by Sir Winston Churchill. Also includes a small amount of correspondence.

Dates

Creation: 1941 - 1945

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Biographical / Historical

Born: 1903 Educated: George Watson's College, Edinburgh Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh Married: Bettie Taylor (1932) Knighted: 1945 Died: 1989 Career 1924: Commissioned Royal Engineers Territorial Army 1924-29: Officer, 52nd (Lowland) Scottish Division 1929-38: Officer, 56th (1st London) Division 1930: Called to the Bar, Inner Temple 1931-35: MP (Unionist) Keighley, Division of Yorkshire 1934-45: Member of Borough Council, Royal Borough of Kensington 1935: Brevet Major 1937-59: MP (Unionist) Richmond, Surrey 1937-38: Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt Hon Euan Wallace when Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade 1938-41: Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding 31st Battalion Royal Engineers Territorial Army 1938-40: Assistant Government Whip 1941: Promoted Brigadier to command the 6th Anti-Aircraft Brigade 1941-45: Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt Hon Winston S Churchill 1942: Territorial Decoration (with 3 bars) 1942: Deputy Lieutenant, Surrey 1944-56: Justice of the Peace County of London 1945: Queen's Counsel 1945-51: Hon Treasurer UK Branch of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association 1948-50: Brigadier commanding 63rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade Territorial Army 1948-52: Aide-de-Camp to King George VI 1948-57: Territorial Army Representative Council of Royal United Services Institute 1949-62: Hon Colonel 566 LAA Regiment 1949: Member, UK Delegation to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conferences in Ottawa and Washington 1950: Member, UK Delegation to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conferences in Australia and New Zealand 1952-58: Aide-de-Camp to the Queen (Member of the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland, Royal Company of Archers) 1954-69: Chief Executive, Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd 1954-60: Deputy Chairman, Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd 1956-57: President Printers' Precision Corporation 1960-69: Chairman, Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd (formerly Chairman Monotype Corp Ltd, Director of Eagle Star Insurance Co, Standard Bank Ltd, Midland Bank Ltd, Clydesdale Bank Ltd, Great Western Railway Company, later British Steel Group) 1966-78: Deputy Lieutenant Greater London 1969: Gold Medal Institute Mining & Metallurgy (for distinguished service to world-wide mining) 1973-81: President, Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd 1976: Hon Freeman, City of London 1973: FRSA Publication 1980 "Most of My Life"

Extent

2 archive box(es)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The papers have been left in the five divisions in which they were received.

Other Finding Aids

The catalogue is available for consultation at Churchill Archives Centre and at the National Register of Archives in London.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Harvie-Watt papers were deposited at Churchill Archives Centre by Lady Harvie-Watt in 1990.

Related Materials

Churchill Archives Centre holds the papers of Sir Winston Churchill (references GBR/0014/CHAR and GBR/0014/CHUR) plus a range of related archive collections. These include the papers of Churchill's wife, Clementine Spencer-Churchill, press photographs, press cuttings, and the Broadwater Collection of Churchill family photographs and albums.

Churchill Archives Centre also has a microfilm copy of Churchill's Prime Ministerial Office papers, 1940-1945 (Public Record Office classes PREM 3 and PREM 4) and holds the papers of several people whose careers were closely linked with Churchill, such as Sir John Colville, Sir George Harvie-Watt, and Sir John Martin. A list of these collections is available at: http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/collections/classified/Churchill.shtml.

General

This catalogue was prepared by Natalie Adams of Churchill Archives Centre using information from the original catalogue of the collection (1990). Biographical information was obtained from Harvie-Watt's obituary in the Daily Telegraph.