Edmund Compton
.svg){kind=small} Sir Edmund Compton GCB KBE |
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|---|---|
| Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration | |
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In office 1 April 1967 – 31 March 1971 |
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| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Sir Alan Marre |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 July 1906 |
| Died |
11 March 1994 (aged 87) London |
| Nationality |
 English
|
| Spouse(s) | Betty Williams |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
| Religion | Anglican |
Sir Edmund Gerald Compton GCB KBE (30 July 1906 – 11 March 1994) was a civil servant and the first Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.
Compton was born to Edmund Compton, involved in South American trade, and a mother from a clerical background. He was schooled at Rugby where he had won a scholarship and developed a love of music.
At Oxford University Compton became acquainted with the renowned historian and educationalist H. A. L. Fisher, who was the Warden of New College. Compton was among the undergraduates (of whom Richard Crossman was one) invited by Fisher to socialise with the likes of Gilbert Murray, Hilaire Belloc, General Smuts and David Lloyd George. It was during this time that Compton determined to enter public service.
In 1934, he married Betty Tresyllian Williams (d. 1987), of a Quaker carpet-making family from Kidderminster. They had one son and four daughters, of whom the youngest is Isobel Sidney, Viscountess De L'Isle.
Compton entered the civil service in 1929 and was transferred to the Colonial Service, during which he visited Nigeria. In 1931 he was transferred to the Treasury where he developed a reputation as a very capable civil servant. At the beginning of the Second World War, Compton was seconded to the Ministry of Aircraft Production where he served as the Private Secretary to the Minister, Lord Beaverbrook. Returning to the Treasury in 1942, Compton became known as an effective wartime operator. In peacetime, Compton continued his ascent through the Treasury, being appointed in turn Third Secretary in 1949 and Comptroller and Auditor General in 1958. In these roles he demonstrated characteristics of dependability and versatility. He was described by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, John Boyd-Carpenter as being "enormously knowledgeable on public finance".
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