Sir Patrick Gower | |
---|---|
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister | |
In office 1922–1928 Serving with Ronald Waterhouse | |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Sir Edward Grigg |
Succeeded by | Robert Vansittart |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert Patrick Malcolm Gower 18 August 1887 Cardigan, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
Died | 31 August 1964 Henley, Oxfordshire, England | (aged 77)
Spouses |
|
Relations | Sir Robert Gower |
Children | 2 |
Education | Marlborough College |
Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
Awards | |
Sir Robert Patrick Malcolm Gower KBE CB CVO (18 August 1887 – 31 August 1964) was a British civil servant who served as the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister between 1922 and 1928.
Patrick Gower was born in Cardigan, Pembrokeshire,[1] the younger son of Captain Erasmus Gower of Pembrokeshire. He was educated at Marlborough College and gained a scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge.[2]
Gower served as Private Secretary to Austen Chamberlain as Chancellor of the Exchequer and as Lord Privy Seal, from 1919 to 1922.[3] He served as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, during which time he served three different prime ministers; Bonar Law; Stanley Baldwin; and Ramsay MacDonald, from 1922 to 1928.[4][5] After leaving 10 Downing Street, Gower served as Chief Press Officer to the Conservative Party from 1929 to 1939.[6][2] In 1939 he left Whitehall to become chairman of advertising firm Charles F. Higham, where he remained until retirement.[7]
He was awarded an Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1922 New Years Honours list;[8] a Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 1923 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours;[9] and was knighted (KBE) for services to the Prime Minister.[2] in the 1924 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.[10]
He married Nancy Barkley in 1913, with whom he had one son and one daughter. Upon her death in 1940 he remarried in March 1941 to H. Margaret Hawdon.[7] He died at home in Henley, Oxfordshire, on 31 August 1964.[7]