Percy Redfern Creed
Encyclopedia
Percy Redfern Creed author of How to Get Things Done, 1938, The Merrymount Press
, revised as Getting Things Done, 1946, The Merrymount Press.
. Educated in England
at Marlborough College
(where he held a Classical Scholarship for 5 years) and at Trinity College
, Cambridge University
(admitted October 7, 1892.)
After leaving Cambridge University he entered the British Army
. After 7 years’ service (including service in India
and South Africa
), he left the Army with the rank of Captain
and took a position in the British House of Commons
. He left this position to join the staff of The Times
newspaper. He gave up newspaper work to accept an invitation from Lord Cromer
to act as his Chief of Staff in a National campaign of which Lord Cromer was the Leader. When this campaign was over he accepted an offer from Lord Roberts
to act in a similar capacity to him in his famous National Service Campaign.
On the outbreak of World War I
, he rejoined his regiment
, the Rifle Brigade, and was appointed to the Headquarters Staff in the War Office
in London. In April 1915 Lord Kitchener
sent him forth as his Personal Representative, with a free hand and full responsibility, to force an Emergency Pace and Streamlined Methods in the Production of Munitions. In the course of this mission—which was successfully fulfilled within 3 months—he came into personal contact with King George V
, Mr. Henry Asquith
(the Prime Minister
), and other Leading Men of the day.
Thus he had the experience of serving in succession under Lords Cromer, Roberts, and Kitchener—the three Big Men of Action of that generation—with a free hand and full responsibility to carry out their Policies.
He moved to America
in 1923. Prior to publication of his revised version of his book entitled Getting Things Done, he made an extensive study of American methods of Organization
.
He served as a Special Consultant in a Government Department in Washington
for 14 months. Before going to Washington he worked as a member of a Trade Union in a Defense Plant—12 hours a night, 6 nights a week.
In 1925, Creed was interviewed by The Christian Science Monitor
. At the time he was a sportswriter. He was interviewed regarding his founding of a "Sportsmanship Brotherhood" in Boston:
Cricket
XI in the Summer of both 1891 and 1892. He left Marlborough in July 1892 and went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge. He joined the Army in 1897 (The Rifle Brigade) and retired from the Army in 1904. During World War I
he rejoined the Army in 1915 with the rank of Captain and retired from the Army again in 1920.
The only other details about him which have come to hand concern his cricketing ability. At the end of his final term here (July 27, 1892) he played cricket for Marlborough College in the annual two-day match at Lords Cricket Ground in London against Rugby School. Batting at Number 3, he scored 211 runs (out of a team total of 432 runs) and more or less guaranteed that Marlborough would win the match. In the College magazine ("The Marlburian") it described his cricketing abilities as follows:
Have been unable to establish at what time Capt Creed left 7RB to join the staff. He appears to have retired in 1915.
See Getting Things Done (disambiguation)
for three other titles with the same name as Getting Things Done.
Merrymount Press
The Merrymount Press was a printing company, both scholarly and craftsmanlike, founded and run by Daniel Berkeley Updike in Boston, Massachusetts, and extant during the years 1893–1941...
, revised as Getting Things Done, 1946, The Merrymount Press.
Biography
Born in Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Educated in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
(where he held a Classical Scholarship for 5 years) and at Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(admitted October 7, 1892.)
After leaving Cambridge University he entered the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. After 7 years’ service (including service in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
), he left the Army with the rank of Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
and took a position in the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. He left this position to join the staff of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper. He gave up newspaper work to accept an invitation from Lord Cromer
Rowland Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer
Rowland Thomas Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer, GCB, GCIE, GCVO, PC, ADC was the son of Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer.During World War I he served as a subaltern in the Grenadier Guards...
to act as his Chief of Staff in a National campaign of which Lord Cromer was the Leader. When this campaign was over he accepted an offer from Lord Roberts
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
to act in a similar capacity to him in his famous National Service Campaign.
On the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he rejoined his regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
, the Rifle Brigade, and was appointed to the Headquarters Staff in the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
in London. In April 1915 Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
sent him forth as his Personal Representative, with a free hand and full responsibility, to force an Emergency Pace and Streamlined Methods in the Production of Munitions. In the course of this mission—which was successfully fulfilled within 3 months—he came into personal contact with King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, Mr. Henry Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
(the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
), and other Leading Men of the day.
Thus he had the experience of serving in succession under Lords Cromer, Roberts, and Kitchener—the three Big Men of Action of that generation—with a free hand and full responsibility to carry out their Policies.
He moved to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1923. Prior to publication of his revised version of his book entitled Getting Things Done, he made an extensive study of American methods of Organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
.
He served as a Special Consultant in a Government Department in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
for 14 months. Before going to Washington he worked as a member of a Trade Union in a Defense Plant—12 hours a night, 6 nights a week.
In 1925, Creed was interviewed by The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
. At the time he was a sportswriter. He was interviewed regarding his founding of a "Sportsmanship Brotherhood" in Boston:
From Marlborough College Register
Percy Redfern Creed: Son of Revd. J. C. Creed of Moyglare Glebe, Maynooth, Ireland. Born: 13 May 1874. Arrived at Marlborough College as a Foundation Scholar in January 1888. His boarding house was B2 where his Housemaster was Mr A. C. Champneys. He was a member of the College's 1stCricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
XI in the Summer of both 1891 and 1892. He left Marlborough in July 1892 and went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge. He joined the Army in 1897 (The Rifle Brigade) and retired from the Army in 1904. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he rejoined the Army in 1915 with the rank of Captain and retired from the Army again in 1920.
The only other details about him which have come to hand concern his cricketing ability. At the end of his final term here (July 27, 1892) he played cricket for Marlborough College in the annual two-day match at Lords Cricket Ground in London against Rugby School. Batting at Number 3, he scored 211 runs (out of a team total of 432 runs) and more or less guaranteed that Marlborough would win the match. In the College magazine ("The Marlburian") it described his cricketing abilities as follows:
Have established the following, that Percy Redfern Creed
- Transferred into The Rifle Brigade as a regular Army officer from the 9th Bn RB, which was the West Meath Militia, on 1 December 1897, as a 2/Lt
- Joined the 3rd Bn RB in Umballah (India) in February 1898. Still a 2/Lt. 3RB marched to Rawalpindi arriving on 26 November 1898, having left Umballah on 24 October
- 1899 – Still in Rawalpindi with 3RB. Promoted to Lt 4 Dec 1899
- 1900 – Still in Rawalpindi. Member of 3RB Polo Team which won the All India Regimental Polo Cup
- 1901 – 18 Jan went with 3RB to Meerut. 2 March left 3RB for The Rifle Depot, here in the barracks in Winchester
- 1902 – Promoted to Captain on 22 Jan ’02. Joined 4RB on 2 August ’02 in South Africa (Bloenfontein)
- 1903 – 13 Jan to 4 Feb sailed from S. Africa on board HM Troopship ‘Ortona’, arriving in Southampton. Proceeded to Chatham. Played in the battalion rackets pair which reached the semi-final of the Army Championship.
- 1904 – 9 March Capt Creed retired
- 1914 – Capt Creed joined 7th Bn RB on 19 September
- 1915 – 20 May 7RB crossed to France
Have been unable to establish at what time Capt Creed left 7RB to join the staff. He appears to have retired in 1915.
Books
- "The Boston Society of Natural HistoryBoston Society of Natural HistoryThe Boston Society of Natural History in Boston, Massachusetts, was an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of natural history. It published a scholarly journal and established a museum. In its first few decades, the society occupied several successive locations in Boston's Financial...
, 1830-1930." (1930) - How to Get Things Done (1938)
- G. T. D. (1939)
- Getting Things Done (1946)
See Getting Things Done (disambiguation)
Getting Things Done (disambiguation)
Getting Things Done may refer to any of four books on time management:* Getting Things Done by Percy Redfern Creed in 1946 and 1947, revised from How to Get Things Done, 1938.* Getting Things Done by Edwin C...
for three other titles with the same name as Getting Things Done.