David Howe Gillmore, Baron Gillmore of Thamesfield,

GCMG The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

, (16 August 1934 – 20 March 1999) was a

British diplomat His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

. He retired in 1994 after a distinguished

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

ic career in which he was a leading light in

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

's extrication of the UK from its policy of confronting

apartheid South Africa Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. He was educated at Trent College, Derbyshire, and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

Career

After service in

HM Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...

from 1953 to 1955, he spent a short time living in Paris, before returning to the UK to work as a French and English teacher at

Wilson's Grammar School Wilson's School is a state boys' grammar school with academy status in the London Borough of Sutton, England. It was founded as Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell in 1615 by Edward Wilson, making it one of the country's oldest state schoo ...

in Camberwell, London, from 1967 - 1970, where he will be remembered. He joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

in 1970. Two years later, he was posted as First Secretary (Commercial) to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He was appointed Counsellor and

Head of Chancery A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

UKDEL, MBFR

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1975. He was appointed Head of Defence Department FCO in 1979, becoming Assistant Under-Secretary of State in 1981. David Gillmore was appointed High Commissioner in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in 1983. Gillmore was appointed

Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (and its predecessors) since 1790. Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State f ...

in 1991,

Family

David Gillmore married Lucile Sophie Morin in 1964. They had two sons (1967 and 1970).

Honours

On 21 February 1996, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Gillmore of Thamesfield, ''of

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea, Balham, P ...

''.

References

External links

Interview with David Howe, Baron Gillmore

transcript
, British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1996

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillmore, David 1934 births 1999 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Members of HM Diplomatic Service High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Malaysia Gillmore of Thamesfield Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs 20th-century British diplomats Life peers created by Elizabeth II