Sir Kenneth Ronald Stowe (17 July 1927 – 29 August 2015) was a senior British civil servant. He was Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (1975–79), and the Permanent Under-Secretary of State of the Northern Ireland Office (1979–81). From 1981-87, he was Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Security. He was made a CB in 1977, CVO in 1979, and KCB in 1980 and a GCB in 1986.

Biography

Stowe was born in Dagenham, Essex on 17 July 1927.

Stowe attended Dagenham County High School and studied history, under a scholarship, at Exeter College, Oxford.

On 20 August 1949, Stowe married Joan Frances Randall Cullen, a teacher, in Essex. The couple went on to have two sons and a daughter. He was left a widower in 1995.

Stowe graduated in 1951, he joined the civil service's National Assistance Board (later to become the Ministry of Social Security), working directly with those people who were asking for help. In 1973, he began employment as under-secretary at the Cabinet Office in the Legislation Committee.

References

  • The Papers of Sir Kenneth Stowe held at Churchill Archives Centre