Sir Folliott Herbert Sandford

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

CMG (28 October 1906 – 5 July 1986) was a British civil servant and

Registrar of the University of Oxford The Registrar of the University of Oxford is one of the senior officials of the university. According to its statutes, the Registrar acts as the "head of the central administrative services", with responsibility for "the management and professi ...

from 1958 to 1972.

Life and career

Folliott Herbert Sandford, the son of a barrister, was born on 28 October 1906. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he obtained first-class degrees in Classics and in Law. He joined the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

as a civil servant in 1930, working as Principal Private Secretary to four Secretaries of State for Air between 1937 and 1940:

Viscount Swinton A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is so ...

Sir Kingsley Wood Sir Howard Kingsley Wood (19 August 1881 – 21 September 1943) was a British Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance. He became a membe ...

, Sir Samuel Hoare and

Sir Archibald Sinclair Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party. Backgr ...

. In 1941 and 1942, he was attached to

RAF Ferry Command RAF Ferry Command was the secretive Royal Air Force command formed on 20 July 1941 to ferry urgently needed aircraft from their place of manufacture in the United States and Canada, to the front line operational units in Britain, Europe, North A ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada; from 1942 to 1944, he was the secretary to the office of the

Resident Minister A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of ind ...

for West Africa. He returned to the Air Ministry in 1944, rising from Assistant Under-Secretary of State to become Deputy Under-Secretary of State from 1947 to 1958. He was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) and 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) in 1949. He became a

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of New College on his appointment as

in 1958, succeeding Sir Douglas Veale, and held both positions until retiring in 1972. On his retirement, he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of New College and Wolfson College and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university. He was Master of the

Skinners' Company The Worshipful Company of Skinners (also known as the Skinners' Company) is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London. Originally formed as an association of those engaged in the trade of skins and furs, the Company was g ...

from 1975 to 1976. He was twice married: to Gwendoline (née Masters) from 1935 until her death in 1977, and then to Peggy Young (née Odgear) from 1982 until her death in 1984. Sandford died on 5 July 1986. The historian Brian Harrison describes him as "unobtrusively providing expertise and continuity" and a hard worker, but one who "lacked Veale's vision and sense of proportion" and who suffered from having to try to match the standards set for the role by Veale.

References

External links

Sir Folliott Herbert Sandford's diary of wartime experiences in West Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandford, Folliott 1906 births 1986 deaths British civil servants Registrars of the University of Oxford People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George