Sir Robert Laurie Morant, (7 April 1863 – 13 March 1920) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

administrator and educationalist.

Career overview

Born in Hampstead, Morant was the older brother of Amy Morant. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

where he took a

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

in Theology. After a year teaching at a Preparatory School he was appointed as tutor to the crown prince of

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. On his return he worked at the

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliat ...

settlement in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

of London. He then joined a research unit reporting to the Privy Council on Education and thence to the Board of Education, where he rose rapidly and served as private secretary to Sir John Gorst,

Vice-President of the Committee on Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the ...

until 1902. He was responsible for some of the new ideas in the

Education Act 1902 The Education Act 1902 ( 2 Edw. 7 c. 42), also known as the Balfour Act, was a highly controversial Act of Parliament that set the pattern of elementary education in England and Wales for four decades. It was brought to Parliament by a Conservat ...

, and was appointed

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

to the Education Board in April 1903, being thus placed in a position to ensure the Board effectively implemented the act. He was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

(CB) in the 1902 Coronation Honours, and promoted to Knight Commander (KCB) of the order in the

1907 Birthday Honours The 1907 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 28 June, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes ...

. In 1905 he was involved in a dispute concerning a school inspection report by Katherine Bathurst and her outspoken views on elementary education for under fives. This resulted in Bathurst having to resign and for the ministry publishing her report but with Morant's apologies and annotations. In 1911 he was forced to resign as Permanent Secretary of the Board of Education after the leaking of a confidential report critical of school inspectors. Written by the chief inspector, it disparaged inspectors who had no more than an elementary education and recommended that inspectors should in future been drawn from Oxbridge graduates. Under pressure of work, Morant approved the report without reading it and, as a civil servant, was unable to reply to public criticism, including questions in the House of Commons,Bernard Meredith Allen, ''Sir Robert Morant: a great public servant'', (London, Macmillan, 1934) and from

Edmond Holmes Edmond Gore Alexander Holmes (17 July 1850 – 14 October 1936) was an educationalist, writer and poet. Biography Holmes was born in Moycashel, County Westmeath, Ireland. His father was Robert Holmes and his mother was Jane Henn (1824-1905). ...

. He then accepted a post chairing the commission to implement the

National Insurance Act 1911 The National Insurance Act 1911 created National Insurance, originally a system of health insurance for industrial workers in Great Britain based on contributions from employers, the government, and the workers themselves. It was one of the foun ...

. This included a huge and wide-ranging task of administration and even included the foundation of the precursor of the Medical Research Council. Morant promoted and largely drafted the National Insurance Act 1913, correcting problems in the previous Act. He served on the Haldane committee on the

machinery of government The machinery of government (sometimes abbreviated as MoG) is the interconnected structures and processes of government, such as the functions and accountability of departments in the executive branch of government. The term is used particularl ...

, 1917–18. When the Ministry of Health was created in 1919 he became its Permanent Secretary. He died of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

on 13 March 1920. In 1917

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term '' collective bargaining''. She ...

called him "the one man of genius in the Civil Service", and A. L. Rowse, writing in 1942, said he was "by universal acclaim the greatest civil servant of his time".

Family

In 1896 he married Helen Mary Cracknell.

References

External links

Photograph of Sir Robert in the National Portrait Gallery's collection
1863 births 1920 deaths People educated at Winchester College Permanent Secretaries of the Board of Education Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Health Alumni of New College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath {{England-bio-stub