Francis Evans (diplomat)

Sir Francis Edward Evans (4 April 1897 – 21 August 1983) was a British diplomat. Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Ireland, he was educated at the city's

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

before being commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County ...

in December 1916. After serving in the First World War, he entered the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in 1919, and the following year completed a course for new consular entrants at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. Between 1920 and 1926 Evans was the British vice-consul at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and for another three years after that at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. In 1929, he was sent to

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Originally it was l ...

, remaining there until 1932, when he again returned to the United States. He subsequently spent five years as consul at Los Angeles, and after a period at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

he returned to New York as consul general there, an appointment he held until 1950. In 1951 Evans became under-secretary of state at the Foreign Office, and the following year he was appointed British ambassador to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, having become minister there the previous year. This was immediately followed in 1954 by his appointment as ambassador to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, a post he held for three years before retiring. From 1957 to 1965, Sir Francis was chairman of the Northern Ireland Development Council, and from 1962 and 1966 he also served as the agent for the

Northern Ireland Government The government of Northern Ireland is, generally speaking, whatever political body exercises political authority over Northern Ireland. A number of separate systems of government exist or have existed in Northern Ireland. Following the partitio ...

in Great Britain. Much honoured, he was appointed CMG in 1944 and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed as in 1946, finally being appointed GBE in 1957. He was also the recipient of

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

s from the

Queen's University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

and Ripon College, Wisconsin, and was a deputy lieutenant of Belfast. For many years Sir Francis served on the Board of Governors of his old school Belfast Royal Academy. Sir Francis's wife, Mary, Lady Evans, whom he married in 1920, died in 1976. Sir Francis died seven years later. There were no children of the marriage. {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Francis 1897 births 1983 deaths Military personnel from Belfast Deputy Lieutenants of Belfast British Army personnel of World War I Royal Ulster Rifles officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Israel Members of HM Diplomatic Service 20th-century British diplomats