Sir David Bruce Pitblado KCB CVO (18 August 1912 – 9 July 1997) was a principal private secretary to the office of the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

. Serving from 1951 to 1956, he was associated with Prime Ministers

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, and

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

. With his colleague

Jock Colville Sir John Rupert Colville, CB, CVO (28 January 1915 – 19 November 1987) was a British civil servant. He is best known for his diaries, which provide an intimate view of number 10 Downing Street during the wartime Premiership of Winston Church ...

, he was one of Churchill's last two principal private secretaries at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

Biography

David Pitblado, born in London in August 1912, attended

Strand School Strand School was a boys' grammar school in the Tulse Hill area of South London. It moved there in 1913 from its original location at King's College in London's Strand. Distinguished in its heyday for its contribution of young men to the ci ...

and then matriculated at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

. He chose the civil service as a career, and was named assistant private secretary to the

Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs The position of secretary of state for dominion affairs was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for British relations with the Empire’s dominions – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundl ...

in 1937. He joined the War Cabinet Office in 1942, and became an undersecretary for economic planning in the Treasury in 1949. His career trajectory continued and he became the

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office i ...

, Clement Attlee, in 1951. His service for Attlee was brief, as the Labour prime minister did not retain his majority in the 1951 General Election. Pitblado continued his service to Attlee's replacement, Winston Churchill. During Churchill's second term, 1951–1955, the Prime Minister (age 77-81) was not always in good health, and the office of Principal Private Secretary became more important than usual, causing a second principal private secretary to be appointed: Pitblado specialised in home and internal affairs, his colleague

in defence and external affairs. Following Churchill's

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in June 1953, prime-ministerial duties were performed by senior staff for some weeks. Churchill biographer

Martin Gilbert Sir Martin John Gilbert (25 October 1936 – 3 February 2015) was a British historian and honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was the author of 88 books, including works on Winston Churchill, the 20th century, and Jewish history inc ...

credits Pitblado, Colville, and Churchill's son-in-law

Christopher Soames Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames, (12 October 1920 – 16 September 1987) was a British Conservative politician who served as a European Commissioner and the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia. He was previously Member of Parli ...

with supervising the operation of the office while the incapacitated Prime Minister fought toward partial recovery. After Churchill's retirement in 1955, Pitblado rounded out his service at No 10 with brief service to his successor, Anthony Eden (later Earl of Avon) in 1955–1956. He then returned to the ministerial civil service and served in a variety of posts. He became

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

at the Ministry of Power in 1966–1969, and Permanent Secretary at the

Ministry of Technology The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...

in 1969–1970.

Later life and honours

David Pitblado was listed in the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in '' The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The rec ...

, receiving the rank of Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

. Two years later he was appointed CB (Order of the Bath) in the

1955 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1955 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

. In his capacity as ministerial Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Power, he was again honoured in the 1967 New Year Honours with the designation of Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB).

Personal life

He was married in 1941 to Edith Evans until her death in 1978. The union bore one son and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitblado, David 1912 births 1997 deaths Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Principal private secretaries to the prime minister Private secretaries in the British Civil Service