Sir Arthur William Peterson KCB MVO (22 May 1916 - 8 May 1986) was a British civil servant who served as

Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office The Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office is the Permanent secretary (UK), permanent secretary at the Home Office, the most senior civil servant in the department, charged with running its affairs on a day-to-day basis. Home Offi ...

. As such he was the senior civil servant and permanent head of the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

, one of the most senior civil service roles in government. He also pioneered the use of psychologists in British prisons.

Career

Born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, Peterson was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. He was the younger brother of

Alec Peterson Alexander Duncan Campbell Peterson OBE (13 September 1908 – 17 October 1988) was a British teacher and headmaster, greatly responsible for the birth of the International Baccalaureate educational system. He was instrumental in the formation of ...

, the educational reformer. Peterson joined the civil service in 1938. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served in the

Ministry of Home Security The Ministry of Home Security was a British government department established in 1939 to direct national civil defence, primarily tasked with organising air raid precautions, during the Second World War. The Ministry for Home Security was heade ...

. He served as principal private secretary to the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

, from 1946 to 1949. In 1957, Peterson was a special adviser to

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politici ...

, whilst Butler was Home Secretary. Peterson became a specialist on the management of prisons and was appointed Chairman of the Prison Commission. He introduced the first psychologists to British prisons. Peterson went on to serve as

from 1972 to 1977. In that role, he suggested alterations to arrangements for

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...

– or even cancelling it altogether. In 1975, he also provided evidence to the United Kingdom Prison Services Committee and warned members of parliament about what activities prisoners in UK prisons might get involved in, without strict controls. The evidence and papers he provided to members of parliament are held in the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

. He was Chairman of the British Refugee Council from 1981 to 1986. Between 1968 and 1985 he was Chairman of the

Romney Street Group The Romney Street Group (also known as RSG) is a British current affairs and Dining club, lunch club. The RSG was founded in 1917 as an early form of think tank. The first chairman was Thomas Jones (civil servant), Thomas Jones, who was Deputy Se ...

Honours

Member 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 ...

, 1953 *

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

, 1963 *

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 ...

, 1973

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Arthur 1916 births 1986 deaths People from Kolkata People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British civil servants British people in colonial India Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Home Department