Sir Arthur Wendell Snelling (7 May 1914 – 25 June 1996) was a senior British civil servant and diplomat. He was educated at

Ackworth School Ackworth School is an independent day and boarding school located in the village of High Ackworth, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school (or more accurately its Head) is a member ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. He was Study Group Secretary at the

Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

, 1934–1936. He joined the

Dominions Office The position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British cabinet-level position created in 1925 responsible for British relations with the Dominions – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free S ...

in 1936, and became Private Secretary to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary in 1939. Snelling was Deputy High Commissioner for the UK in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, 1947–1950, and the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

, May 1953–January 1956. He was Assistant Under-Secretary of State at the

Commonwealth Relations Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commo ...

, 1956–1959, and British High Commissioner in Ghana, 1959–1961. Snelling was Deputy Under-Secretary of State at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

, 1961–1969, and

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, 1970–1973. He was Vice-President of the UK-South Africa Trade Association, 1974–1980. Amongst friends and family he preferred the name Peter, using his birth name for public affairs and correspondence. He had suffered from, and been treated for, lung cancer but died of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

on 25 June 1996 at his home in Kingston upon Thames. He was survived by his wife Frieda (née Barnes) (11 November 1914 – 22 September 2016).

External links

Cambridge University Janus RepositoryNational Portrait Gallery Pictures of Sir Arthur Wendell Snelling
- Fables has references to Sir Arthur Snelling highlighting his role as UK Ambassador. {{DEFAULTSORT:Snelling, Arthur 1914 births 1996 deaths People educated at Ackworth School Alumni of University College London Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to South Africa High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Ghana Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office