Treasury: Papers of Sir John Bradbury

T 170

1870-1922

An accumulation of working papers, memoranda and notes used by Sir John Bradbury during his term of office as Financial Adviser and Joint Permanent Secretary. Included are specimen one pound notes issued in 1914 as a result of his scheme to relieve pressure on gold.

Papers used by Sir John Bradbury as principal British delegate to the Reparations Commission are in T 194

Public Record(s)

English

144 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

Sir John Bradbury entered the Civil Service in 1896 and after a short stay in the Colonial Office, was transferred to the Treasury. In 1905 he was appointed Private Secretary to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Asquith, and became principal clerk of a Treasury Division in 1908, when Lloyd George succeeded Asquith in office. He played a large part in the preparation of the famous Budget of 1909; and later was one of the architects of the National Health Insurance scheme. He became Joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury in 1913.

Sir John devised a scheme for the issue of small denomination paper money, a measure designed to relieve pressure on gold and to combat the acute financial crisis which attended the outbreak of war in 1914.

During the War of 1914-1918 Sir John was the Government's Chief Financial Adviser and helped to devise the War Savings Certificates and to promote their sale. He left the Treasury in 1919 to become principal British delegate to the Reparations Commission.