Sir Basil Charles Engholm Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath was a senior British civil servant at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Background
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.
Education
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.
Career
On retirement he was heavily involved in raising money for the arts and was Chairman of the British Film Institute. 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 became Under Secretary 1954 and Deputy Secretary in 1964 when he was made Central Bank. 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 (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath) that year.
Engholm retired from the Civil Service in 1973 and became a company director for Comfin Limited until 1985. He had free time on his hands and put his energy into raising money for the arts
He was Chairman of British Film Institute from 1978 to 1981 and quickly recognised the need for commercial sponsorship of the arts
During his time as Chairman, the idea of the Museum of the Moving Image was generated. His greatest love was Saddlers Wells Theatre. He was a director of the Saddlers Wells Theatre Trust from 1975 and of the New Saddlers Wells Opera from 1987 to 1989.
He was also a director of the Trustee Theatre Trust from 1977 to 1984.
In 1936, Engholm married Nancy Hewitt, daughter of Clifford Hewitt of Rye. They had a daughter born in 1943.
Membership
He became a member of Grays Inn, and followed his father into the Anglo-American Metal Company in New York from 1933 to 1934.