John Satterfield Sandars, CVO, PC (15 January 1853 – 29 March 1934) was a British barrister who served as Private Secretary to

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was informally known as 'Jack' Sandars to those close to him.

Early life

John Sandars was the only son of Charles Sandars, an estate and colliery agent of Mackworth,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. Educated at the local

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

, he went on to read Law at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

in 1871.

Career

Sandars was called to the Bar by

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1877, practising on the Midland Circuit until 1885, when he was appointed as private secretary to Henry Matthews, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

. In the 1892 general election, he unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary seat of Mid-Derbyshire. Three years later, in 1895, he became the private secretary to Arthur Balfour, then

Leader of the House of Commons The Leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Leader is always a memb ...

and

First Lord of the Treasury The First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom. Traditional convention holds that the office of First Lord is held by the Prime Mi ...

. He remained with Balfour until 1911, when the latter resigned as the leader of the Conservative Party. Sandars was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed CVO in the 1905 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.

Personal life

He married Harriette Grace Mary, daughter of Sir William Don on 10 August 1892. John Sandars died at home at Eastley End House near

Thorpe, Surrey Thorpe is a village in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Runnymede, between Egham, Virginia Water and Chertsey. It is adjacent to the M25, near the M3 — its ward covers . Its traditiona ...

on 29 March 1934 at the age of 80.

References

* https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-45591 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandars, John Satterfield Sandars, John Satterfield Sandars, John Satterfield Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Principal private secretaries to the prime minister Place of birth missing