Sir Thomas Williams Phillips (20 April 1883 – 21 September 1966) was a senior official in 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 ...

. Phillips, a Welshman, was educated at

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a po ...

County School and

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

, where he obtained a first-class

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in Literae Humaniores. He joined the Civil Service in 1906, working initially in the field of copyright law. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

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

in 1913. He moved to the

Ministry of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

in 1919, serving as

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 1935 to 1944. He then worked in the

Ministry of National Insurance National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famili ...

until 1948, becoming Chairman of the

Central Land Board Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and of the War Damage Commission in 1949. He held these positions until 1959. He was also Chairman of the National Joint Council for Local Authorities, Administrative, Professional. Technical and Clerical Services (1951–1963) and Chairman of the War Works Commission (1949–1964). He was awarded the

CBE 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 1918, knighted with the award of the

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

in 1934 and advanced to GBE in 1946. He was also awarded the CB in 1922 and advanced to KCB in 1936. He was made 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 Jesus College, Oxford in 1948, was made a Commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

in 1946. He died on 21 September 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Thomas Williams 1883 births 1966 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Welsh civil servants Welsh barristers Members of Gray's Inn Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Labour Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of National Insurance Members of HM Government Legal Service Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)