{{short description|English civil servant}} {{for|his nephew the novelist|Graham Greene}} {{Use British English|date=June 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = | name = Graham Greene | honorific_prefix = Sir | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|JP}} | birth_date = 16 January 1857 | death_date = 10 September 1950 | office = Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Munitions | term_start = 1917 | term_end = 1920 | birth_place = Takeley, Essex, England | death_place = Harston House, Harston, Cambridgeshire, England | office1 = Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty | term_start1 = 1911 | term_end1 = 1917 | minister = Winston Churchill | predecessor = Edmund Bampfylde Phipps | successor = Sigmund Dannreuther | predecessor1 = Inigo Thomas | successor1 = Oswyn Murray | minister1 = Reginald McKenna<br>Winston Churchill<br>Arthur Balfour | monarch1 = George V | monarch = George V | prime_minister = David Lloyd George | prime_minister1 = H. H. Asquith<br>David Lloyd George }}
'''Sir William Graham Greene''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|JP}} (16 January 1857 – 10 September 1950), more commonly referred to as '''Sir Graham Greene''', was an English civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty from 1911 to 1917, during the time of the First World War.<ref name="times">{{cite news |title=Obituary: Sir Graham Greene – Reorganizing the Navy Before 1914 |work=The Times |date=11 September 1950 |page=6}}</ref> Greene was one of the founders of Naval Intelligence in the First World War, and was still involved in Intelligence in the Second World War.<ref>Norman Sherry: [https://books.google.com/books?id=IWboCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Elisabeth+Greene%22+MI6&pg=PT101 The Life of Graham Greene Volume 2: 1939–1955]</ref>
He was born in Takeley, Essex,<ref name="1911census">''1911 England Census''</ref> the son of William Greene, of East Lodge, Bedford, and his wife, Charlotte. He was known as Graham, so as not to be confused with his father, and was the uncle of the celebrated author of the same name, who wrote of memorable childhood summers spent at Sir Graham's home, Harston House. He was also the uncle of Hugh Greene, who served as Director-General of the BBC, and Raymond Greene, the eminent physician and mountaineer.<ref name="harston">{{cite web |last=Roadley |first=John |title=Sir William Graham Greene (1857–1950) |url=https://www.harstonhistory.org.uk/content/people/%EF%BB%BF%EF%BB%BFsir-william-graham-greene-1857-1950 |website=Harston History |access-date=11 June 2019}}</ref> He was educated privately in Germany and at Cheltenham College.<ref name="times"/>
Between 1875 and 1879 he worked first at the family brewery in Bury St Edmunds, now known as the Greene King Brewery.<ref name="harston"/> He began his career as a civil servant at the Inland Revenue in 1879, and two years later he transferred to the Admiralty. In 1887, he became an assistant private secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, serving as such to Lord George Hamilton, George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, George Goschen and William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne. Greene was actively involved in the heavy administrative work during a time of considerable reorganisation and expansion of the Navy.<ref name="times"/>
From December 1902 to 1907, he served as a principal clerk in the Secretary's Department.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=29 November 1902 |page=8 |issue=36938}}</ref> and under John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, assisted with significant further reorganisation. In 1907, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Admiralty, and in September 1911 succeeded Sir Inigo Thomas as Permanent Secretary. He served in this capacity for six years of what ''The Times'' newspaper called "crushing responsibility" in the First World War, as the Admiralty was preparing for and directing massive operations vital to the war effort.<ref name="times"/>
In 1917, the Admiralty and other departments saw significant changes, and Greene was invited to assume the Secretaryship of the Ministry of Munitions. Greene's many years of experience were an asset needed in the new Ministry. He took up his new post in August 1917 and remained at the Ministry of Munitions until his retirement in 1920.<ref name="times"/>
According to ''The Times'', Greene "was a conscientious, zealous, and greatly experienced officer, but his modest nature deprived him of the strong personality which might have given him greater influence in the conduct of affairs."<ref name="times"/>
He died unmarried at Harston House, Harston, Cambridgeshire, in 1950.<ref name="times"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | title = Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty | before = Sir Inigo Thomas | after = Sir Oswyn Murray | years = 1911–1917}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Graham}} Category:1857 births Category:1950 deaths Category:People educated at Cheltenham College Category:Permanent secretaries to the Admiralty Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:English justices of the peace