Sir Geoffrey Harington Thompson, GBE,

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(12 March 1898 – 26 January 1967) was a British diplomat. He was British Ambassador to Thailand from 1946 to 1950 (Minister from 1946 to 1947) and

British Ambassador to Brazil The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Brazil is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Brazil and the head of the UK's diplomatic mission in Brazil. The official title is ''His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Federa ...

from 1952 to 1956.

Biography

The son of Lieutenant-Colonel Croasdale Miller Thompson, IMS, and Ella Dalziel Harington, Thompson was educated at

Eastman's Royal Naval Academy Eastman's Royal Naval Academy, originally in Southsea and later at Winchester, both in England, was a preparatory school. Between 1855 and 1923 it was known primarily as a school that prepared boys for entry to the Royal Navy. Thereafter, it was ...

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

and

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. He was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery (

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...

) in 1917, and served in France and Flanders in 1917–18, where he was wounded, and in Rhine in 1919. He was appointed a Third Secretary

HM Diplomatic Service 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 Home Civil Service, which ...

in 1920, transferred to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

the same year, and to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

in 1922. Promoted to Second Secretary in 1923, he was transferred to the Foreign Office in 1927, and to

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

in 1931, where he acted as '' chargé d'affaires'' in 1932 and 1933. Promoted to First Secretary in 1932, he was transferred to the Foreign Office in 1934, and to the British Embassy to Spain in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, then to

Hendaye Hendaye ( Basque: ''Hendaia'')HENDAIA
Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

from January to October 1939, before returning to the Foreign Office. He was appointed acting Counsellor of Embassy at

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

in 1941, and transferred to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

in 1942, where he was ''chargé d'affaires'' in 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945. He was promoted to Counsellor in 1943. In 1946, Thompson was appointed British Minister to Thailand, and became Ambassador when relations were upgraded in 1947, serving there until 1950. From 1950 to 1951, he was a civilian instructor at the Imperial Defence College. He was

from 1952 to 1956, when he retired. In retirement, Thompson became a director of Atlas Assurance Company, and published his memoirs, ''Front-line Diplomat'' (Hutchinson, 1959). Thompson was appointed CMG in 1933, promoted to

in 1949, and appointed a GBE in 1957.

Family

Thompson married in 1926 Louise Sewall of Englewood, New Jersey; they had a son and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1943, when he married Hilda Alice, daughter of the Rev. D. Westcott, DD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Geoffrey Harington 1898 births 1967 deaths Members of HM Diplomatic Service Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Thailand Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Brazil People educated at Westminster School, London Royal Field Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century British diplomats