Sir John Miller Martin (15 October 1904 – 31 March 1991) was a British civil servant who served as

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office i ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, during

World War II 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 ...

. The position is a public, rather than private post. He was present at the most important strategic conferences and was knighted in 1952.

Early life

John Miller Martin, born on 15 October 1904, was the son of the reverend John Martin (

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

). He was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

and won a scholarship to

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

Career

Having passed the civil service examination in 1927 he joined the Colonial and Dominion offices. After a long and distinguished career his final posting was

British High Commissioner In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is genera ...

for

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in 1965 before retirement in 1967. He was awarded a

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(CVO) in the King's Birthday Honours 1943, an

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 ...

(CB) in the

1945 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours The 1945 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were announced on 14 August 1945 to mark the resignation of the prime minister, Winston Churchill, following the success of the Labour Party in the 1945 General Election."Resignation Honours." ''Th ...

and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

(KCMG) in the

1952 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1952 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire and Commonwealth. They were announced on 1 January 1952 for the British Empire, Austr ...

Personal life

He married Rosalind Ross, daughter of Sir David Ross, in 1943. The union bore one son. Sir John Martin died on 31 March 1991 at the age of 86.

References

External links

The Papers of Sir John Martin
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 ...

1904 births 1991 deaths British civil servants Principal private secretaries to the prime minister Winston Churchill People educated at Edinburgh Academy Knights_Commander_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George {{UK-gov-bio-stub