Sir Philip Dennis Proctor KCB (1 September 1905 – 30 August 1983) was a British civil servant. The son of Sir Philip Bridger Proctor KBE (1870–1940) and his wife Nellie Eliza Shaul, Proctor was educated at

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

(classical Tripos). He worked in

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

and later was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Power. Proctor was made a Companion 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 ...

in 1946 and was promoted to Knight Commander in 1959.'PROCTOR, Sir (Philip) Dennis’,

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2012;
accessed 28 Dec 2012
Proctor was instrumental in the forming of the

Paintings in Hospitals Paintings in Hospitals is an The arts, arts in health Charitable organization, charity in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1959, the charity's services include the provision of artwork loans, art projects and art workshops to health and social car ...

charity in London and served on the charity's board of trustees from 1971. On the basis of interviews with Proctor and his friends, the intelligence officer Peter Wright alleged in his book ''

Spycatcher ''Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer'' (1987) is a memoir written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and assistant director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. Wright drew on his experiences and research into ...

'' that Proctor, while Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Power, was at the very least, by Proctor's own account, an unwitting source of secret information to the Soviets via his close friend and Soviet spy

Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet double agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection ...

, from whom he had kept no secrets. In Proctor's opinion, this had obviated the necessity to recruit him (Proctor) as a Soviet agent.Peter Wright, ''Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer'' (New York and London: Viking, 1987), pp. 262-263

References

* Kevin Theakston, ‘Proctor, Sir (Philip) Dennis (1905–1983)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed
Sir (Philip) Dennis Proctor (1905–1983): * 'PROCTOR, Sir (Philip) Dennis’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012; online edn, Nov 2012
accessed 28 Dec 2012
1905 births 1983 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath {{UK-bio-stub