P. J. Grigg

Sir Percy James Grigg PC (16 December 1890 – 5 May 1964), better known as Sir P. J. Grigg was a British civil servant who was surprisingly moved from being the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the War Office to become Secretary of State for War, the political head of the same department during the Second World War.

Background and education
The son of a carpenter, Grigg was born in Exmouth and won a scholarship to Bournemouth School and St John's College, Cambridge where he studied mathematics.

Career in civil service
In 1913 he achieved a first in the civil service examination and he served in the Treasury. During the First World War he served in the Royal Garrison Artillery. After the war he returned to the Treasury and in 1921 he became Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, serving several successive Chancellors including Winston Churchill. He held this post until 1930 when he became Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise and Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue. In 1939 Grigg became Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War and oversaw a turbulent department, which in 1940 witnessed no less than four different Secretaries of State (Leslie Hore-Belisha, Oliver Stanley, Anthony Eden and David Margesson).

Secretary of State for War
He proved an effective civil service head but it came as a great shock to many when in February 1942 Churchill dismissed Margesson and replaced him with Grigg – who had to convey the news to Margesson himself. Amongst the many Ministerial appointments made by Churchill from outside the sphere of Westminster politics, this was seen as one of the most unusual, but was a response to considerable military setbacks such as the loss of Singapore, and the need to appease critics by replacing some ministers. Grigg retained his post for the rest of the war, holding it also in Churchill's 1945 "Caretaker Government". In 1942 he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff East, beating Fenner Brockway. However in the 1945 general election he lost his seat and left public life.

Later life
In his later years Grigg held many directorships, including those of the Imperial Tobacco Company, the Prudential Assurance Company, the National Provincial Bank and the Distillers Company. He died in May 1964, aged 73.