Biographical Note | Frederick Cameron Sillar CBE was the Commission’s Higher Division Clerk, Chief Assistant (Finance), Assistant Secretary (Finance) and Principal Assistant Secretary.
He was born on 2 July 1895. During the First World War, he volunteered for active service in 1915 and served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in the Dardanelles. During the campaign he was invalided home and later worked with the Admiralty.
Frank (as he was known) Sillar was first appointed to the Commission’s staff in November 1918 and until 1922 was employed in the Secretary’s branch. During this difficult period, the Commission’s policy was being formulated and its organisation established, thus allowing Sillar to gain an extensive knowledge of the Commission’s administration. In 1922, he was transferred to the Finance Branch, and upon the establishment of the staff on a permanent basis, Sillar was appointed Chief Assistant of Finance on 1 April 1928, serving over 20 years in the post. As Chief Assistant of Finance, Sillar was Assistant and Deputy for the Assistant Secretary (Finance) in control of the Commission’s financial administration and establishments in all areas of activity. He was also Assistant Secretary to the Commission’s Finance Committee.
In early 1938, he served with Mr Wardley of the Treasury as one of the Joint Secretaries to the Special Committee nominated by the Treasury, the Commission and the Trustees of the Endowment Fund to consider the question of the Commission’s finances. In March 1940, he was made an OBE.
During the Second World War, Sillar assisted with the evacuation of employees from France and Belgium, and later, with the reopening of the Commission’s work there. For this, Sillar was made CBE in March 1946.
Frank Sillar retired in 1965 and later worked on three books with fellow Commission employee, Miss Ruth Meyler. Outside of his work, Sillar was a talented photographer, watercolourist and fly-fisherman.
He died on 23 June 1978, aged 82. |