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Sir James Edward Masterton-Smith
(1878-1938), Private secretarySitter in 6 portraits
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Dr Ben Knighton
14 June 2019, 12:08
Sir James Edward Masterton-Smith (24 August 1878 – 4 May 1938) KCB was a British civil servant. He was the son of Edward Smith, formerly a member of the Stock Exchange. In 1905 Masterton-Smith married Barbara Crosbie-Hill. She was the eldest daughter of W. S. J. Crosbie-Hill, JP, of the Red House, Sevenoaks, Kent. They had one son and one daughter. His first wife died in 1921 in tragic circumstances. In 1923 Masterton-Smith married Marjorie, the only daughter of Hubert B. Marten of 15 Mallord Street, London, SW3.
Masterton-Smith was educated at Harrow School and Hertford College, Oxford.
He entered the Home Civil Service (Class I). His career in bullet-points:
• 1901 Admiralty
• 1904-1908 Private Secretary to the Second Sea Lord
• 1908-1910 Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary
• 1910-1917 Private Secretary to successive First Lords of the Admiralty (Mr Reginald McKenna, Mr Winston Churchill, Mr Arthur Balfour, Sir Edward Carson, and Sir Eric Geddes)
• Sep 1917 - Jan 1919 Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Munitions
• 1919-1920 Assistant Secretary, War Office and Air Ministry
• 1920-1921 Joint Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour
• 1921-1924 Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
• 1924 retired.