Edwin Noel Auguste Plowden, Lord Plowden, GBE, KCB (6 January 1907 – 15 February 2001) was a British industrialist and public servant in the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

Career

Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Plowden joined C Tennant Sons & Co, commodity dealers. As he spoke French and German and knew the European mainland well, he was put in charge of selling Palestine

potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.

, in competition with the European potash cartel; he did so to such effect that his firm, as it had hoped, was invited to join the cartel. During the war, he served in the

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (193 ...

, and later joined the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

, in which he remained until 1946. During 1945–46 he was chief executive in succession to Air Chief Marshal Sir

Wilfrid Freeman Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Rhodes Freeman, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1888 – 15 May 1953) was one of the most important influences on the rearmament of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the years up to and including the Second World War. RAF caree ...

. He returned after the War to the private sector, but then was appointed Chief Planning Officer to the Cabinet Office in March 1947. The group was called the Central Economic Planning Staff and Plowden headed it for over six years.

Korean War

"I was at this stage put in charge of a working party set up to formulate an official reply to the Americans and, over the next year or so, was to be responsible for the general economic supervision of the rearmament programme."

Conservative Government

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 politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1951–55) inherited Plowden after the Conservatives took power in 1951. He commented, "But I depended on Edwin Plowden, as head of the economic planning staff, to interpret and give practical edge to the advice generated by the less voluble and extrovert Hall ( Robert Hall, Lord Roberthall), to act as ''vulgarisateur'' or publicist for his ideas. Plowden was to be my faithful watchdog in chief, and his departure for industry in 1953 undoubtedly weakened my position and that of the British economy".

Personal life

His wife,

Bridget Bridget is an Irish language, Irish female name derived from the Goidelic languages, Gaelic noun ''brígh'', meaning "power, strength, vigor, virtue". An alternate meaning of the name is "exalted one". Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is la ...

(née Bridget Horatia Richmond; 1910–2000), chaired the group which authored and published the 1967

Plowden Report The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council For Education (England) into Primary education in England. The report, entitled ''Children and their Primary Schools'', reviewed primary education in a wh ...

on primary education. She was created a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE).

Death

Lord Plowden died of

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

in 2001, aged 94, one year after his wife's death. He predeceased his two sons and one daughter while another daughter predeceased both Sir Edwin and Dame Bridget Plowden.

Arms

Plowden was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) in the

1946 Birthday Honours The 1946 King's Birthday Honours, celebrating the official birthday of King George VI, were announced on 13 June 1946 for the United Kingdom and British Empire. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new h ...

, a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) in the

1951 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1951 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the o ...

and was promoted to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the

1987 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

with the title Baron Plowden, of

Plowden Plowden may refer to: *Plowden, Shropshire, village in Shropshire, England People with the surname Plowden * Alfred Chichele Plowden (1844–1914), English barrister and court magistrate * Alison Plowden (1931–2007), English historian and biogr ...

in the county of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

on 17 February 1959.

References

External links

The Papers of Lord Plowden
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plowden, Edwin Plowden, Baron 1907 births 2001 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Crossbench life peers Deaths from hypertension Place of birth missing Place of death missing Life peers created by Elizabeth II