The Papers of Sir Charles Villiers

Villiers was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. For a short period he acted as an assistant to the Rev. P. B. [Tubby] Clayton, of Toc H, London, in 1931, and subsequently worked for Glyn Mills, Bankers.

On the outbreak of World War Two he was mobilised for service with the Grenadier Guards and took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk. He later served in the Special Operations Executive in London and Italy, 1943-45, being parachuted into Yugoslavia and Austria in 1944. He reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was awarded the Military Cross in 1945.

In his post-war business career he was a Partner of Helbert Wagg and Co, 1948-60; Managing Director of J. Henry Schroder Wagg, 1960-68; Managing Director, Industrial Reorganisation Corporation, 1968-71; Chairman, Guinness Mahon & Co. Ltd, 1971-76; Chairman, Northern Ireland Finance Corporation, 1972-73; Executive Deputy Chairman, Guinness Peat Group, 1973-76; Chairman: British Steel Corporation, 1976-80; and Chairman BSC (Industry), 1977-89.

He was knighted in 1975 and published "Start again, Britain" in 1984.

Unpublished diaries relating to [Villiers'?] post-war service in the British Legation at Siam [Thailand], probably based at Bangkok; and business papers mainly concerning his work at the Industrial Reorganisation Committee and the British Steel Corporation

The collection was presented to Churchill Archives Centre by Lady Villiers in August 1992.

The collection is owned by Churchill College, Cambridge.

The collection is mostly open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives. Some items remain closed.

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Please cite as Churchill Archives Centre, The Papers of Sir Charles Villiers, VLRS

A copy of this finding aid is available for consultation at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, the National Register of Archives, London and on the Janus website, http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/.

This collection (fonds) level description and catalogue was compiled by Andrew Riley of Churchill Archives Centre in February 2003.