Sir Frederick Brundrett, (25 November 1894 – 1 August 1974) was a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

who served as the

Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence The Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK's Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence is responsible for providing strategic management of science and technology issues in the MOD, most directly through the MOD research budget of well o ...

from 1954 to 1959.

Education and early life

Frederick Brundrett was born in Sunny Bank,

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

on 25 November 1894. He was the oldest child of the seven sons and three daughters of Walter Brundrett, an accountant who worked for the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company, and his wife Ada Richardson. He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

, a public school in

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, where he excelled at sports. Later in life he was said to be one of the country's oldest first-class

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

players. Although the school was not renowned for mathematics, Brundrett won a mathematics scholarship to

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

, which he entered in 1913. He earned

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in the first part of the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...

in 1914 and became a Wrangler in 1916.

Career

Brundrett joined the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

to participate in

World War I 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 was slated for duty on

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

s but contracted

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gen ...

and was held in isolation. It was discovered that he was a Wrangler and he was reassigned to the Wireless Experimental Department at , where he spent the rest of the war. Demobilised in 1919, Brundrett, joined the scientific staff of the Royal Naval Signal School. In 1920 he married Enid James; they had one child, a son they named James Edward. Brundrett remained at the Royal Naval Signal School until 1937, when he was transferred to the headquarters of the Royal Naval Scientific Service in London as Principal Scientific Officer in the Department of Scientific Research and Experiment (DSRE). He became the superintending scientist in 1940, assistant director in 1941 and deputy director in 1943. He created a system for categorising scientists, made arrangements with the Treasury for them to be directly appointed to civil service positions and obtained rapid security clearances for them. He recruited some 10,000 scientists to the war effort at the Admiralty, the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

, 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 ...

and the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

. His son James, a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, was killed in Italy on 30 September 1944. For his wartime work, Brundrett was appointed a

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 ...

in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by 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, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginn ...

. When Sir Charles Wright retired in 1947, Brundrett succeeded him as the Chief of the Royal Naval Scientific Service. He chose

William Cook William, Will, Willie, Bill or Billy Cook may refer to: Sportsmen Association football (soccer) * William Cook (footballer) (1907–1968), English footballer who played for Darlington and Gateshead * Willie Cook (footballer) (1906–1981), Sc ...

as his Director of Physical Research. The year 1947 also saw the formation of the Defence Research Policy Committee (DRPC) to advise the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

and the

Chiefs of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

on matters of scientific policy, of which Brundrett became an

ex officio member An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by ri ...

. The DRPC was initially chaired by the

, Sir

Henry Tizard Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...

. Brundrett became deputy chairman in 1950 and chairman in 1954 succeeding, Sir

John Cockcroft Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (27 May 1897 – 18 September 1967) was an English nuclear physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest Walton for their splitting of the atomic nucleus, which was instrumental in the developmen ...

as Chief Scientific Adviser. He was also Honorary Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation from 1953 to 1959. Brundrett 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 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 ...

in the

1950 New Year Honours The 1950 New Years Honours 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. They were announced on 2 January 1950 for the Unit ...

and a

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 ...

in the

1956 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1956 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. They were announced on 2 January 1956 to celebra ...

. He became an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of Sidney Sussex College in 1954 and received an honorary

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 1956. Brundrett retired from the Ministry of Defence in 1959 and was succeeded by Sir

Solly Zuckerman Solomon "Solly" Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman (30 May 1904 – 1 April 1993) was a British public servant, zoologist and operational research pioneer. He is best remembered as a scientific advisor to the Allies on bombing strategy in the Second ...

. He was a Civil Service Commissioner from 1960 to 1967, chairman of the Air Traffic Control Board from 1959 to 1974 and chairman of the naval aircraft research committee of the Aeronautical Research Council from 1960 to 1966. He was chairman of the council of the Red and White Friesian Cattle Society, president of the Agricultural Co-operative Association, chairman of trustees for the Rural Industries Bureau from 1961 to 1966, a member of the White Fish Authority from 1961 to 1973 and chairman of the Board of Governors for Houghton Poultry Research Station from 1962 to 1968. Brundrett died in Southbourne, Sussex on 1 August 1974. His papers are in the

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 ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brundrett, Frederick 1894 births 1974 deaths Admiralty personnel of World War II Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Chief Scientific Advisers to the Ministry of Defence English mathematicians Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Rossall School People from Ebbw Vale Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I