Sir John Herbecq was born on 27 May 1922. In 2002 he became the first President of the re-constituted Old Boys Association.
He had a distinguished career as a civil servant. He served in HM Treasury from 1950-60, as Private Secretary to the Chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, 1960-62; returning to the Treasury for the period 1962-68. After 1968 he worked at the Civil Service Department, becoming its Second Permanent Secretary from 1975 until his retirement in 1981. He was a Church Commissioner, from 1982-96.
Sir John was a director at The Chichester Diocesan Fund And Board Of Finance (Incorporated). Sir John was also an officer at The Chichester Diocesan Fund and Board of Finance from 1992 to 1997.
Sir John giving a talk in St Mary’s Church, Prestbury Cheltenham
“Near the Heart of Government: the indiscretions of a former mandarin”
Seventy members and guests attended a talk given by Sir John Herbecq on Saturday 17 September 2011 in St Mary’s church, Prestbury, Cheltenham.
Sir John, who is now an adopted son of Prestbury, had a distinguished career at the top of the Civil Service (even though he never wore a bowler hat). Sir John gave a very interesting, entertaining and at times humorous insight into the workings of various ministers and governments of different political persuasions that he had worked with over many years.
The behaviour, characteristics and foibles of several senior ministers including Christopher Soames, Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher were revealed during the talk.
He involved himself in a number of controversial issues as a senior Civil Servant including Civil Service pay and cuts, bribery allegations in Government dealings with sales contracts to foreign countries – particularly in the Middle East; furthermore he has led various Review Bodies and chaired Government Commissions and his Memoirs of his time in the Civil Service which are held at Churchill College Cambridge are used extensively by research historians.