The Right Honourable John Witney Pickersgill,
Former Clerks of the Privy Council (1952-1953)
The Right Honourable John Witney Pickersgill,
P.C.
Clerk of
the Privy Council and
Secretary to the Cabinet
June 1, 1952 to June 1,
1953
Appointed Member of the Queen's Privy Council
June 12, 1953
Biographical Notes
John "Jack" Pickersgill was born in Norfolk County, Ontario, and grew up in Manitoba. He was educated at the University of
Manitoba and at Oxford University. He taught history at Wesley College, Winnipeg, for eight years. In 1937, he joined the
Department of External Affairs in Ottawa. Almost immediately he was assigned to the Prime Minister's Office.
Pickersgill became King's Assistant Private Secretary in July 1938. King commented: "Pickersgill ... promises to do very
well. He is very keen and has a fine sense of duty." (Diary, August 2, 1938)
Shortly after that, Arnold Heeney was appointed King's Principal Secretary and Pickersgill became his second-in-command.
When Walter Turnbull was named Principal Secretary, Pickersgill continued to hold the second spot. Turnbull administered
the office and arranged appointments for the Prime Minister while Pickersgill drafted letters and memoranda on policy
matters and assisted the Prime Minister with his speeches. King came to have great confidence in Pickersgill and depended
on him. Pickersgill soon had much more influence than his job title implied.
In 1945, Pickersgill was named Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and was officially in charge of the Prime Minister's
Office. After King retired, Pickersgill continued to serve the new Prime Minister, Louis St. Laurent. In 1952 he was
appointed Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. He held both these positions until 1953. Pickersgill
later became a Member of Parliament and a Cabinet Minister, and in 1967 he was appointed President of the
Canadian Transport Commission.
Pickersgill was one of Mackenzie King's literary executors, the others being F.A. McGregor, Norman Robertson, and
Dominion Archivist Dr. W. Kaye Lamb. While these executors struggled with the question of how to handle the huge amount
of documentation King had accumulated, Dr. Lamb had the main responsibility for deciding which scholars should be permitted
to consult it. After his retirement in 1968, Lamb moved to British Columbia and Pickersgill took over the responsibility
for granting access to the King Papers, until decisions were completed about when the various series should be opened.
Pickersgill wrote several books. The Mackenzie King Record, in four volumes, is a history of the King administration,
from 1939 to 1948, based heavily on the King diary. Seeing Canada Whole: A Memoir (1994) includes an interesting account
of Pickersgill's years in King's office and recollections about his colleagues there.
Library and Archives Canada holds the J.W. Pickersgill Papers (MG32-B34).
© Library and Archives Canada
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