Imperial Service Order

 

The Imperial Service Order was instituted in August 1902. It was awarded for long and meritorious service upon retirement to both administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire.

 

Normally, a person must have served for 25 years (at home), to become eligible, but this could be shortened to either 20 years and six months in India, or, 16 years for those serving in more challenging locations such as the tropics.

 

In exceptional circumstances, the award could be presented for ‘…eminently meritorious service’, regardless of length of service.

 

There was one class: Companion. Both men and from 1908) women were eligible, and recipients of this order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters 'ISO'.

 

During the 1993 reform of the British honors’ system, the British Government decided to make no new appointments to the Imperial Service Order. However, the Imperial Service Medal continues to be awarded in recognition of certain individuals who make positive contributions.

 

Although no awards have been made in the UK since 1995, the government of Papua New Guinea continues to nominate candidates for both the Order and the Medal.

 

 

The medal is of an eight point star design 55mm wide and 61mm in height and was struck in silver (with gold overlay) ensigned with a crown. In regards to the issue awarded to a male recipient, the obverse of this medal contains a central golden medallion and bears the cipher of the reigning monarch with the inscription; ‘FOR FAITHFUL SERVICE’.

 

Those issued to a female recipient, had the same medallion at the centre as in those issued to a male, but no surrounding stars, it was instead surrounded by a silver laurel wreath in bronze ensigned with a crown.

 

The reverse is plain but does contain the name of the recipient upon the upper portion.

 

The ribbon suspender is in the form of a ring that is attached to the crown that surmounts the medal.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 38mm wide, red in colour with a central light blue stripe.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

** The individual medal value will vary considerably based on the recipient’s details.

 

 

- Her Majesty’s Home Civil Service.

- Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service.

- The Northern Ireland Civil Service.

 

Her Majesty’s Home Civil Service - Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as Her Majesty's Civil Service or the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government, which is composed of a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive.

 

Like in various countries (example India) following a Parliamentary system, Her Majesty's Home Civil Service in the UK forms an inseparable part of executive branch of the Government of the United Kingdom. The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by HM Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not the British Parliament. Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for the political advantage of the party in power. Senior civil servants may be called to account to Parliament.

 

In general use, the term civil servant in the United Kingdom does not include all public sector employees; although there is no fixed legal definition, the term is usually defined as ‘…a servant of the Crown working in a civil capacity who is not the holder of a political (or judicial) office; the holder of certain other offices in respect of whose tenure of office special provision has been made; [or] a servant of the Crown in a personal capacity paid from the Civil List’.

 

As such, the civil service does not include government ministers (who are politically appointed), members of the British Armed Forces, the police, officers of local government authorities or quangos of the Houses of Parliament, employees of the National Health Service (NHS), or staff of the Royal Household. As of October 2013, there are approximately 412,000 full-time equivalent (447,000 headcount) civil servants in the Home Civil Service.

 

There are two other administratively separate civil services in the United Kingdom. One is for Northern Ireland (the Northern Ireland Civil Service); the other is the foreign service (Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service). The heads of these services are members of the Permanent Secretaries Management Group

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service - Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs, as opposed to the Home Civil Service, which deals with domestic affairs. Its approximate 16,000 employees work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London as well as 240 posts (embassies and other offices) around the world, alongside locally employed staff and members of other government departments. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is also the Head of the Diplomatic Service.

 

The Foreign Service, which originally provided civil servants to staff the Foreign Office, was once a separate service, but it amalgamated with the Diplomatic Service in 1918. The Diplomatic Service also absorbed the Colonial Service in the late 1960s.

 

Women were not allowed to join the Diplomatic Service until 1946. Until 1973, they were required to leave when they married. The first female ambassador to be appointed was Barbara Salt, to Israel in 1962, but ill-health prevented her from taking up the post. The first woman to actually serve as an ambassador was Anne Warburton, appointed to Denmark in 1976.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Northern Ireland Civil Service - The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) is the permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved government of Northern Ireland.

 

The NICS is one of three civil services in the United Kingdom, the others being the Home Civil Service and the HM Diplomatic Service. The heads of these services are members of the Permanent Secretaries Management Group.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

End of database.