John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley
John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, PC, PC (Ire), FRS (8 July 1882 – 4 January 1958), was a Scottish civil servant and politician who is best known for his service in the War Cabinet during the Second World War, for which he was nicknamed the "Home Front Prime Minister". He served as Home Secretary, Lord President of the Council and Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Anderson shelters are named after him.
The Viscount Waverley
Winston Churchill
Neville Chamberlain
Winston Churchill
Neville Chamberlain
Samuel Hoare
Constituency abolished
8 July 1882
Edinburgh, Scotland
A graduate of the University of Edinburgh and the University of Leipzig where he studied the chemistry of uranium, Anderson joined the Civil Service in 1905, and worked in the West African Department of the Colonial Office. During the Great War he headed the staff of the Ministry of Shipping. He served as Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1921 to 1922 during its transition to independence, and as the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office from 1922 to 1931 he had to deal with the General Strike of 1926. As Governor of Bengal from 1932 to 1937, he instituted social and financial reforms, and narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
In early 1938, Anderson was elected to the House of Commons by the Scottish Universities as a National Independent Member of Parliament, and was a non-party supporter of the National Government. In October 1938 he entered Neville Chamberlain's Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal. In that capacity, he was put in charge of air raid preparations. He initiated the development of the Anderson shelter, a small sheet metal cylinder made of prefabricated pieces which could be assembled in a garden and partially buried to protect against bomb blast.
After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Anderson returned to hold the joint portfolio of Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security, a position in which he served under Winston Churchill. He retained responsibility for civil defence. In October 1940, he exchanged places with Herbert Morrison and became Lord President of the Council. In July 1941 as Lord President of the Council he was appointed as minister responsible for the British effort to build an atomic bomb, known as the Tube Alloys project. He became the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1943 and remained in the post until the Labour Party's victory in the general election in July 1945.
Anderson left the Commons when the university constituencies were abolished at the 1950 general election. He became Chairman of the Port of London Authority in 1946 and the Royal Opera House in March the same year. He rejected an offer to join Churchill's peacetime administration when it was formed in 1951, and was created Viscount Waverley of Westdean in the County of Sussex in 1952.
Early life[edit]
John Anderson was born at his parents' home at 1 Livingstone Place, Edinburgh, on 8 July 1882, the oldest child of David Alexander Pearson Anderson, a printer and stationer, and his wife Janet Kilgour née Briglmen. He had three younger siblings: a brother, Charles, who died from meningitis in infancy, and sisters Catherine (Katie) and Janet (Nettie). The family moved to Braid Hills in May 1890. He attended George Watson's College in Edinburgh, where he was dux of the school, earning prizes for Anglo-Saxon, Old English, and Modern Languages.[1][2]
In October 1899, Anderson sat the examination for students entering the University of Edinburgh, which determined order of merit for scholarships and bursaries. He was ranked eleventh, and awarded a bursary of £100 (equivalent to £14,000 in 2023). In his first year, he was ranked first in his class in mathematics and natural philosophy. In November 1900, the family moved to Eskbank. The previous owner of their new home had been an amateur astronomer and Anderson took over a room with a large telescope.[3]
A neighbour, Andrew Mackenzie, had five daughters, and Anderson became the boyfriend of one of them, Christina (Chrissie) Mackenzie. In 1902 he took a bicycle tour of France and Switzerland, during which he wrote frequently to Chrissie. He graduated the following year with distinction in mathematics, physics and chemistry, earning a Bachelor of Science degree, and first class honours in mathematics and natural philosophy, earning a Master of Arts degree.[3]
The Anderson, Briglmen and Mackenzie families holidayed together in summer of 1903. On 29 August they were bathing in the River Ythan when a freak wave suddenly swept Nettie Anderson and Chrissie's sister Nellie Mackenzie into deep water. Nellie was rescued but Nettie drowned. Anderson and Chrissie were on their way to join the group at the time of the accident, but it fell to him to identify the body and inform his parents.[4]
Along with fellow Scotsmen Joseph Henry Maclagen Wedderburn, Forsyth James Wilson and William Wilson, Anderson went to the University of Leipzig in Germany, where he intended to study physical chemistry under Wilhelm Ostwald. When he arrived he found that Ostwald had abandoned chemistry, so Anderson studied under Robert Luther instead. He chose to examine the chemistry of uranium. Although Henri Becquerel had discovered in 1896 that uranium had radioactive properties, Anderson studied only its chemical properties. On his return to Edinburgh he wrote a paper on the subject, but this was not a PhD thesis.[5]
Civil Service career[edit]
Colonial Office[edit]
Although Anderson was a brilliant student, winning numerous prizes, he decided to forsake a career in science for one in the Civil Service. At the time this was the normal career path for graduates of the University of Edinburgh, and his father advised him that if he wished to marry Chrissie the Civil Service would offer greater job security. To prepare, he took an honours course in economics and political science. In July 1905, he travelled to London with a fellow candidate, Alexander Gray and sat the British civil service examination.[6]
In those days a candidate could take tests in as many subjects as they liked, and Anderson took fourteen, earning a score of 4566 out of a possible 7500, which was the highest score that year and the second highest ever; Gray came second with a score of 4107 out of 7900. Anderson was offered the choice of joining the Home Civil Service or the Indian Civil Service. Most candidates preferred the latter, as salaries and allowances were higher, but Anderson's parents did not want him to leave Britain, and he did not want to subject Chrissie to the rigours of life in India. He therefore joined the Colonial Office as a Second Class Clerk on an annual salary of £200 (equivalent to £27,000 in 2023).[6]
Anderson commenced work at the Colonial Office on 23 October 1905, in the West African Department. He was known in the department as "young John Anderson" to distinguish him from another John Anderson who became the Governor of the Straits Settlements. In London, Anderson shared accommodation with Gray and William Paterson, a family friend from Eskbank.[7] On 2 April 1907, he married Chrissie at St Andrew's Church in Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh; Gray was his best man and Chrissie's sister Kate and William Paterson were witnesses. The newlywed couple rented a house in Sutton, London. They had two children: David Alastair Pearson on 18 February 1911, and Mary Mackenzie on 3 February 1916.[8]
Anderson served on Sir Kenelm Digby's 1908 Committee on Northern Nigerian Lands. This did not involve travel to Nigeria, but the following year he went to Hamburg to meet with his German counterparts at the Hamburg Colonial Institute, where his fluency in German was useful. In 1911 he was the secretary of Lord Emmott's departmental committee that recommended the introduction of a distinctive local currency in British West Africa.[9]
Great War[edit]
In 1912, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George, introduced National Insurance, the start of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. A new government department was created to administer it, chaired by Sir Robert Morant. Anderson and Gray joined the new department.[10] When the position of secretary of the National Insurance Commission fell vacant in May 1913, Anderson was appointed to the position over the head of many more senior civil servants.[11] Anderson formed a good working relationship with the notoriously difficult Morant. "The trouble with young John Anderson", Morant lamented, "is that he is always so damned right."[12]
Following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Anderson was involved in securing supplies of medical and surgical implements that had hitherto been imported from Germany. He summoned a group of experts to analyse and produce arsphenamine, known as "606", a drug formerly sourced from Bayer in Germany. They went on to produce other substances, including aspirin. Anderson registered for service under the Derby Scheme but was placed on the Army Reserve. This did not prevent a young woman from presenting him with a white feather.[13]
Lloyd George became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 7 December 1916, and one of his first acts was to create a Ministry of Shipping under Sir Joseph Maclay, and Morant agreed to release Anderson to become its secretary on 8 January 1917.[14][15] Although it was not his idea, Anderson recognised the value of an Allied Maritime Transport Council, and threw his support behind it. After the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the Ministry of Shipping became embroiled in a controversy over the continuance of the blockade of Germany and the shipment of relief supplies for starving civilians. In the end the Germans agreed to turn all their ships over to the Allies to carry supplies. The vessels were eventually retained as reparations.[13] For his wartime service with the Ministry of Shipping, Anderson was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1918 New Year Honours,[16] and was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1919 Birthday Honours.[17]
Anderson became a secretary of the Local Government Board in April 1919, but in July it was merged with the Health Insurance Commission to form the Ministry of Health, and Anderson became the second secretary under Morant, who had requested Anderson's appointment as his deputy. However, Anderson did not remain in that position for long either, for on 1 October 1919 he was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, with an annual salary of £2000 (equivalent to £116,000 in 2023) plus £300 (equivalent to £17,000 in 2023) war bonus, which was raised to £3000 (equivalent to £174,000 in 2023) plus £500 (equivalent to £29,000 in 2023) on 1 March 1920.[18]
Ireland[edit]
Chrissie died on 9 May 1920 during an operation for cancer, leaving Anderson a widower with two young children. Nellie Mackenzie, who was training to be a nurse at St Thomas' Hospital, gave up her career to care for them.[19] On 16 May, Anderson became Under-Secretary for Ireland.[20] He was also the HM Treasury representative,[21] and he became a Privy Counsellor of Ireland on 3 June 1920.[22] The administrative arrangements were unorthodox: he did not supersede his predecessor, James Macmahon, but shared the position with him. They were answerable to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Sir Hamar Greenwood, but as a cabinet minister, Greenwood was located in London; Field Marshal French, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (known as the viceroy), had wielded special executive powers in 1918 and 1919, but in 1920 reverted to the normal figurehead powers of that post. Anderson therefore wielded great executive power. He had two assistant under-secretaries, Alfred William Cope and Mark Sturgis.[20]
Over eighty members of the Royal Irish Constabulary had been killed during the previous year, and both numbers and morale were low. Anderson oversaw a recruitment campaign among ex-servicemen in England, Scotland and Wales. There were insufficient uniforms for them all, so they wore a mixture of khaki Army service dress and dark green Royal Irish Constabulary uniforms, giving rise to the nickname "Black and Tans". Major General Hugh Tudor was given a free hand to reorganise and reequip the constabulary, and facilitated cooperation between the constabulary and the military.[23]
In the face of an insurgency, Anderson strove to avoid the appearance that Britain was engaged in a war of reconquest.[23] He travelled in an armoured car with a police escort, and carried a revolver.[24] He was engaged in peace talks with the Sinn Fein, but unlike Cope he was not in his element.[25] A settlement was brokered, and on 16 January 1922, the viceroy (Viscount FitzAlan) formally handed over power to the Provisional Government.[26] For his service in Ireland, Anderson was made an additional Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1923 New Year Honours.[27]
Home Office[edit]
All the while Anderson was in Ireland, he was still nominally the Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, and he returned to this role in January 1922. But not for long; in March Sir Edward Troup, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office, retired and Anderson was appointed to succeed him. At the time the Home office had seven divisions, each with its own Assistant Secretary: Aliens Control, Children and Probation, Crime, Factories and Shops, Channel Islands, Northern Ireland, and Police. Anderson worked an eight-hour day, from 10:15 in the morning to 18:15 each night, with an hour and a half for lunch.[28]
Through the Northern Ireland Division, Anderson continued to be involved with Irish issues. He helped negotiate the border between the new Irish Free State and Northern Ireland in 1923.[29] He also chaired the 1925 Committee of Imperial Defence subcommittee on air raid precautions.[30] That year also saw Red Friday, 31 July 1925, when the government capitulated to the demands of the Miners Federation of Great Britain to provide a subsidy of £23 million (equivalent to £1,700 million in 2023) to the mining industry to maintain miners' wages and secure industrial harmony.[31]
Appreciating that this might only temporarily stave off a major industrial dispute, the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, appointed Anderson to the chairmanship of an inter-departmental committee to prepare for one. Each department was allocated a specific role: the Board of Trade stockpiled food and coal, the Ministry of Transport arranged for distribution, and the Home Office was responsible for keeping law and order. When the UK General Strike of 1926 commenced on 4 May 1926, Anderson had been preparing for the eventuality for nine months. He was particularly determined to remain even-handed and avoid the appearance of favouring one side over the other.[31] When Winston Churchill suggested sending the Army to the London docks to protect the supplies of paper needed to print the British Gazette, Anderson cut him off with: "I would beg the chancellor of the exchequer to stop talking nonsense".[2]
Political career[edit]
Pre-war[edit]
After Ireland and Bengal, the British government could find no more dangerous assignment than Palestine, and on 24 October 1937, the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, offered Anderson the position of High Commissioner for Palestine, but he declined. Another opportunity soon presented itself.[53] The sudden death of Ramsay MacDonald on 9 November 1937 created a casual vacancy in his Scottish Universities seat in the House of Commons, and the Unionist Party now needed to find another candidate. Sir John Graham Kerr, another member for the Scottish Universities, discussed this with Sir Kenneth Pickthorn, one of the members for Cambridge University, who suggested that Anderson might make a worthy candidate. Kerr contacted Katie Anderson, who informed him that Anderson was still en route for the UK on the liner SS Comorin.[56]
Anderson arrived back in London on 11 December 1937. He spoke to Kerr, and agreed to stand for election as a National Government candidate without a party label. His candidacy was announced on 4 January 1938. Voting was by postal ballot, which meant that Anderson did not have to campaign but only needed to provide a statement of his political philosophy. In this he affirmed his support for the National Government and gave a qualified support for Scottish nationalism. The results were announced on 28 February; Anderson received more votes than any other candidate, and was declared the winner. He took his seat on 2 March and, after a holiday in Switzerland with Mary Anderson and Nellie Mackenzie, made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 1 June. The occasion was a debate over the provision of funding authorised under the Air Raid Precaution Act of 1937, a subject that he had previously been involved with and would come to be identified.[57]