Arthur Hirtzel

Sir Arthur Hirtzel GCB (1870 - 1937) worked in the India Office and was also an Academic. He was elected as a fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, after having studied at Dulwich College and Trinity College, Oxford. His first important assignment at the India Office was to act as Private Secretary to Sir John Morley, the Secretary of State, while he was promulgating what came to be known as the Morley-Minto Reforms which came into effect in 1909. Following this, he became Secretary in the Political Department from 1909 to 1917, followed by being appointed as the assistant under-secretary and then the Deputy under-secretary of state during the period 1917 to 1924. Finally, he became the permanent under-secretary of state during the period 1924 to 1930 when he retired. He wrote a few books on Christianity, the British Empire and also on music. During the period 1925 to 1930, he was also Chairman of the Board of Governors, at his old school, Dulwich College.