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Sir Clarmont Percival Skrine (1888–1974) was a British civil servant and administrator who served as the British consul-general in
Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
from 1922 to 1924,
Under-Secretary of State for India This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the period of British rule between 1858 and 1937 for India(and Burma by extension), and for India and Burma from 193 ...
and agent for the Madras States from 1936 to 1939.


Early life

Born in Kensington, London, in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
on 28 February 1888, Clarmont was the son of Francis Henry Bennett Skrine (1847−1933) of the
Indian civil service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...
and Helen Lucy née Stewart (1867–1954), and the grandson of the Revd Clarmont Skrine of Warleigh Lodge, Wimbledon. He was educated in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at
Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
and
New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
, and qualified for the
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...
in 1912.


Career

Clarmont Skrine served in the Indian civil service from 1912 to 1915 and joined the Indian political service in 1915. From 1916 to 1919 he was British vice-consul in Kerman, Iran. From 1922 to 1924, he was posted in Kashgar, in
Chinese Turkestan Xinjiang, SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autono ...
, as the British consul-general. Clarmont married Doris Forbes née Whitelaw (1897–1971) on 23 November 1923 in Mumbai. In 1925, he and his wife, he made a journey into the largely unknown valleys of the Kungar Alps in Chinese Turkestan, during which he mapped, photographed and surveyed the country. This journey was described in an article in 'The Times' in May 1925 and forms a central part of his book 'Chinese Central Asia'. From 1926 to 1929 he was British consul in Seistan. On 20 November 1936, Skrine was appointed agent for the Madras States. Skrine served till 1 April 1937, when the agency was abolished and replaced with a residency. Clarmont also served as the first resident for the Madras States from 1 April 1937 to 15 January 1939. In January 1942 he traveled overland to
Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...
, Persia (near the Turkmen border) to become Consul General and remarkably took some cine footage of his journey. British public records indicate he remained in post till the end of World War Two. From 1946 to 1948, Skrine served as Counsellor for Indian Affairs in
Teheran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most populo ...
,
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.


Later life

After his retirement from the service he was appointed by the firm Balfour Beatty & Co. to be Resident Director of the Jerusalem Electricity Corporation in connection with the scheme for obtaining electric power from the Jordan. Later he was chairman of the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for Official Use and a partner in the firm of Mideast Guardians concerned with the placing of Iranian and other Middle Eastern children in British schools. Skrine died in 1974 at the age of 86.


Works

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References


Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skrine, Clarmont Percival 1888 births 1974 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford Indian Political Service officers Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Winchester College British people in colonial India Kashgar