1. Leslie Rowan served in the Colonial Office and HM Treasury, and was Principal Private Secretary to Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee, before joining the British Embassy in Washington, DC, as economic minister.
12 Facts About Leslie Rowan
1. 2.
Leslie Rowan was a younger son of Thomas Rowan of Dromore West, County Sligo, a Church of Ireland clergyman and headmaster who became a missionary in British India, where Rowan spent most of his early childhood.
3.
From 1920 to 1926, Leslie Rowan was educated as a day boy at Tonbridge School, serving as School Captain in his final year.
4.
Leslie Rowan was in the school's First XI, First XI, and First XV.
5.
Leslie Rowan was then an Exhibitioner at Queens' College, Cambridge, and went on to captain the England men's national field hockey team.
6.
Leslie Rowan served in the Colonial Office from 1930 to 1933, then was a civil servant in HM Treasury until 1947, but with responsibilities outside of it.
7.
In 1941, Leslie Rowan became Assistant Private Secretary to Winston Churchill while he was British prime minister during the Second World War, and then was promoted to be Churchill's Principal Private Secretary; he remained at 10 Downing Street in this post when Clement Attlee took over as prime minister in 1945.
8.
In 1947, Leslie Rowan was briefly Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Minister for Economic Affairs, then from 1947 to 1949 returned to HM Treasury as Second Secretary, gaining a knighthood in the 1949 Birthday Honours.
9.
From 1949 to 1951, Leslie Rowan was economic minister at the British Embassy in Washington, DC, and returned from there to head the Overseas Finance Section of HM Treasury.
10.
In 1939, Leslie Rowan was unmarried and living at Sloane House, Chelsea.
11.
Lady Leslie Rowan later said of the occasion "It was sad to see such a great man become so frail".
12.
At the time of his death on 29 April 1972, Leslie Rowan was living in Brompton, London SW3.