View source for James Grigg

{{Short description|British politician (1890–1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{distinguish|Edward Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = Sir James Grigg
| honorific-suffix = [[Order of the Bath|KCB]] [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]]
| image = File:Percy James Grigg.jpg

| order1 = [[Secretary of State for War]]
| term_start1 = 22 February 1942
| term_end1 = 26 July 1945
| monarch1 = [[George VI of the United Kingdom|George VI]]
| primeminister1 = [[Winston Churchill]]
| predecessor1 = [[David Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson|David Margesson]]
| successor1 = [[Jack Lawson]]
| constituency_MP2 = [[Cardiff East (1918–1950 UK Parliament constituency)|Cardiff East]]
| term_start2 = 13 April 1942
| term_end2 = 15 June 1945
| predecessor2 = [[Owen Temple-Morris]]
| successor2 = [[Hilary Marquand]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1890|12|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Exmouth]], [[Devon]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1964|5|5|1890|12|16|df=yes}}
| death_place = 
| nationality = [[British people|British]]
| party =   
| alma_mater = [[St John's College, Cambridge]]
| spouse = 
}}
'''Sir Percy James Grigg''', [[Order of the Bath|KCB]], [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] (16 December 1890{{spaced ndash}}5 May 1964), often referred to as '''P J Grigg''' and later better known as '''Sir James Grigg''', was a British civil servant who was unexpectedly moved, at the behest of then-Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], from being the [[Permanent secretary (UK)|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 [[World War II|Second World War]].

==Background and education==
The son of Frank Alfred Grigg, a carpenter, James Grigg was born in [[Exmouth]] and won a scholarship to [[Bournemouth School]] and [[St John's College, Cambridge]]<ref name="Streat1987">{{cite book|author=Sir Raymond Streat|authorlink=Raymond Streat|title=Lancashire and Whitehall: The Diary of Sir Raymond Streat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ctRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA307|accessdate=6 November 2015|year=1987|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-2390-3|page=307}}</ref> where he studied mathematics, achieving first-class honours in both parts of his [[tripos]].

==Career in civil service==
Grigg came first in the [[British Civil Service|civil service]] examination in 1913, and commenced work at the [[HM Treasury|Treasury]]. During and after the [[World War I|First World War]] he served successive Chancellors including [[Winston Churchill]]. Grigg then became Chairman of the [[Board of Customs and Excise]] and Chairman of the [[Board of Inland Revenue]]. In 1934, he was transferred to New Delhi, [[India]] where he became Finance Member of the Government of India in anticipation of limited self-rule that began in 1935. He remained in New Delhi until 1939, and afterward continued to influence British imperial policies on India, especially after his patron Winston Churchill became [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]]. Grigg became [[Permanent secretary (UK)|Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War]] in 1939; he oversaw a turbulent department, which in 1940 witnessed no fewer than four different [[Secretary of State for War|Secretaries of State for War]] ([[Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha|Leslie Hore-Belisha]], [[Oliver Stanley]], [[Anthony Eden]] and [[David Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson|David Margesson]]).

==Secretary of State for War==
Grigg proved an effective departmental head, but it came as a great shock to many when in February 1942 Churchill dismissed Margesson and replaced him with Grigg &ndash; 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 [[fall 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 (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Cardiff East (1918–1950 UK Parliament constituency)|Cardiff East]], beating [[Fenner Brockway]]. [[Alan Brooke]] the wartime Army CIGS said that with ''PJ'' he had the "best and most valuable advice on any matter I discussed with him" (unlike Lawson, who replaced Grigg).<ref> {{cite book | last = Alanbrooke | first = Field Marshal Lord  | authorlink = Alan Brooke  | title = War Diaries 1939–1945 | publisher = Phoenix Press | date = 2001 | location =  | page = 721 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 1-84212-526-5 }} </ref> 

But in the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]] Grigg lost his seat, and retired from 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]]. In 1946, he became the first British executive director of the [[International Bank for Reconstruction and Development]]. He died on 5 May 1964, aged 73.

==Family==
He married Gertrude Charlotte Hough, daughter of the Reverend George Frederick Hough, in July 1919. The marriage was childless.

==Memoir==
*Grigg, James. ''Prejudice and Judgment''. Jonathan Cape, 1948.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}

==External links==
* {{Hansard-contribs | sir-james-grigg | P. J. Grigg }}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/006525}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir [[Francis Floud]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman, [[Board of Customs and Excise]]|years=1930}}
{{s-aft|after=Sir [[Edward Forber]]}}
{{Succession box
 | title  = Chairman, [[Board of Inland Revenue]]
 | years  = 1930–1934
 | with   =
 | before = Sir [[Ernest Gowers]]
 | after  = Sir [[Edward Forber]]
}}
{{Succession box
 | title  = Permanent Secretary, [[War Office]]
 | years  = 1939–1942
 | with   =
 | before = Sir [[Herbert Creedy]]
 | after  = Sir [[Frederick Bovenschen]] and<br/>Sir [[Eric Speed]]
}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Cardiff East (1918–1950 UK Parliament constituency)|Cardiff East]]
  | years  = [[1942 Cardiff East by-election|1942]]–[[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945]]
  | before = [[Owen Temple-Morris]]
  | after  = [[Hilary Marquand]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Secretary of State for War]]
  | years  = 1942–1945
  | before = [[David Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson|David Margesson]]
  | after  = [[Jack Lawson]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Churchill Caretaker Ministry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigg, Percy James}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Chairpersons of the Board of HM Customs and Excise]]
[[Category:Chairmen of the Board of Inland Revenue]]
[[Category:Civil servants in HM Treasury]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Council of the Governor General of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cardiff constituencies]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Devon]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945]]
[[Category:People educated at Bournemouth School]]
[[Category:People from Exmouth]]
[[Category:Permanent under-secretaries of state for war]]
[[Category:Private secretaries in the British Civil Service]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for war (UK)]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1935–1945]]
[[Category:War Office personnel in World War II]]