Sir Henry Hardman, KCB (15 December 1905 – 17 January 2001) was an English civil servant and, briefly, an academic economist.

Early life

Hardman was born in December 1905, the son of Harry Hardman of

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and Bertha Cook Hardman. He was educated at Manchester Central High School and read Commerce at 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 ...

, graduating in 1927. He taught for the

Workers’ Educational Association Workers' Educational Associations (WEA) are not-for-profit bodies that deliver further education to adults in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. WEA UK WEA UK, founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult edu ...

from 1929 until 1934 when he was appointed an economics tutor at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Civil Service career

After the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Hardman was drafted into the

civil service 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 ...

in 1940 and served in the

Ministry of Food 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 mi ...

. He was Deputy Head of the British Food Mission in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

(1946–48) and was the Minister of the UK's Permanent Delegations in Paris from 1953 to 1955. When the Ministry of Food merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1955, he transferred to the new

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

. He moved to the

Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...

in 1960 and was its

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

from 1961 to 1963. He was then

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, also called the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, is the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence. The office holder is the government's principal civilian adviser on Defence ...

(MoD) from 1963 to 1966, overseeing the merger of the former service departments into the MoD.

Post-retirement

After retiring, Hardman was chairman of the Home Grown Cereals' Authority (1968–77) and the

Covent Garden Market Authority New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, London, is the largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in the United Kingdom. It covers a site of and is home to about 200 fruit, vegetable and flower companies. The market serves 40% of the f ...

(1967–75), managing the market's move to

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth, with some parts (including the Nine Elms tube station, tube station) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It lies on the River Thame ...

, and he served on the

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under UK competition law, competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competiti ...

(1967–70; as deputy chairman until 1968). He acted as negotiator for a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

pay agreement in 1971."Sir Henry Hardman", ''The Times'' (London), 22 January 2001, p. 19. ."Hardman, Sir Henry"
''

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 ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2021). Retrieved 17 August 2021.

Marriage and children

Hardman married Helen Diana Bosanquet. They had one son and two daughters.

Honours

Hardman was made a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB) on 2 January 1956,Supplement to the London Gazette, 2 January 1956 and later advanced to be Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). Hardman received an honorary LLD from the University of Manchester in 1965.

Death

Hardman died in January 2001, aged 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardman, Henry 1905 births 2001 deaths English civil servants Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Leeds Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at the Central Grammar School for Boys Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Defence