Basil Engholm

Who was Basil Engholm?

Sir Basil Charles Engholm KCB was a senior British Civil Servant at the Ministry of Agriculture. On retirement he was heavily involved in raising money for the arts and was Chairman of the British Film Institute.

Engholm was born in Melbourne Australia, the only son of Charles Engholm and his wife Ethel Nora Bowie. His father was of Swedish descent, and worked for the Anglo-American Metal Company in various parts of the world. Engholm returned to England and then went out to Chile at the age of 8, where he learnt to ride on his father’s ranch. He was educated at Tonbridge School, at the Sorbonne in Paris and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he took a Law Tripos and gained a double first. He became a member of Grays Inn, and followed his father into the Anglo-American Metal Company in New York from 1933 to 1934. He did not like working for the company, and entered the British Civil Service in 1935. He was posted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

He rose in the Ministry of Agriculture where he stayed throughout his career until he reached the top job. He became Under Secretary 1954 and Deputy Secretary in 1964 when he was made CB. During his time at the Ministry he acquired a reputation as the right man to deal with difficult problems. He picked up the pieces in the Crichel Down affair and was heavily involved in the Icelandic Cod War. His diplomacy in these and other matters led to his appointment as Permanent Secretary in 1968 in succession to Sir John Winnifrith, and he was knighted that year. While still a civil servant he and his wife found time to develop a great enthusiasm for the arts, including painting, theatre, ballet, film and opera.