Frank Trelawny Arthur Ashton-Gwatkin (14 April 1889 – 30 January 1976) was a British diplomat and Foreign Office official. He was a significant influence on the British foreign policy in the Far East in the early 20th century. He also published a number of novels and other works under the pseudonym John Paris. Ashton-Gwatkin was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1915 he married Nancy Violet Butler (d. 1953), of Melbourne, Australia. After several years in the Consular Service in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

, where he acquired a good knowledge of Japanese, Ashton-Gwatkin joined the Far Eastern Department of the Foreign Office in 1919, transferring to the Diplomatic Service in 1921. In 1929, he was sent to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to work at the British Embassy in Moscow, but returned after a year to be secretary of the Anglo-Soviet Debt Committee under Lord Goschen. He participated in several international conferences, including the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa in 1932 and the

World Economic Conference In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

in London the following year. As a result of his interest in economic affairs, he was instrumental in establishing the Economic Relations Section in the Foreign Office, focused on co-ordinating British diplomatic and economic policies, becoming its first head in 1934. In the late summer of 1938, he served as Chief of Staff on the

Runciman Mission The Runciman Mission to Czechoslovakia was a British Government initiative aimed at resolving an international crisis threatening to lead to war in Europe in the summer of 1938. The Mission, headed by a former British cabinet minister Lord Runcima ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and was a member of the British delegation at the subsequent

Munich Conference The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

. During the 1930s, Ashton-Gwatkin was a staunch advocate of the policy of appeasement towards

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Although he later revised his views, Ashton-Gwatkin's political outlook at that time is encapsulated by his expressed hope - in the immediate aftermath of the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

in 1938 - of “an Anglo-German policy of economic co-operation” flourishing within a German-dominated East Central Europe."Notes on Germany and Central Europe", memorandum by Ashton-Gwatkin, 27 October 1938, C 13864/772/18, FO371/21705, National Archives, London. Ashton-Gwatkin's literary work, published under the name of John Paris, reflected his period of residence in Japan and included the novels ''Kimono'' (1921), ''Sayonara'' (1924), ''Banzai!'' (1925),''The Island beyond Japan'' (1929), ''Matsu'' (1932) and a collection of verses ''A Japanese Don Juan and other Poems'' (1926). The novels were noted for their realistic portrayal of life in East Asia. Previously, whilst an undergraduate at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, he was awarded the 1909 Newdigate Prize for a poem entitled ''Michelangelo''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton-Gwatkin, Frank 1889 births 1976 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British consuls British male novelists 20th-century British poets 20th-century British novelists British male poets 20th-century British male writers Members of HM Diplomatic Service 20th-century British diplomats