Sir Harold Smedley (19 June 1920 – 16 February 2004) was a British diplomat who was envoy to several countries.

Career

Harold Smedley was educated at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ages of five to ele ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

and was an officer in

48 Commando No. 48 (Royal Marine) Commando was a battalion-sized formation of the British Commandos, formed in 1944 during the World War II, Second World War. No. 48 Commando was assigned to the 4th Special Service Brigade and served in North West Europe, ta ...

at the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

in 1944. In 1946 he entered the Dominions Office (which became the

Commonwealth Relations Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commo ...

in the following year). He served as private secretary to the

Permanent Under-Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil ...

1947–48; in the British High Commissioner's office in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, 1948–50; at

Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, 1951–53; as principal private secretary to the

Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commo ...

1954–57; and with the rank of Counsellor in the High Commissioner's offices at

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1957 and New Delhi 1958–60. Smedley was High Commissioner in Ghana 1964–67 (with a break from December 1965 to March 1966 when the Ghanaian president,

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

, broke off diplomatic relations over

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

). He was Ambassador to Laos 1968–70; Assistant

Under-Secretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

1970–72; secretary-general to

Lord Pearce Edward Holroyd Pearce, Baron Pearce, (9 February 1901 – 26 November 1990) was a British barrister and judge. He served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1962 until 1969. In 1971–72, he chaired the Pearce Commission, which was cha ...

's Commission on Rhodesian Opinion (of a proposed settlement) 1971–72; High Commissioner in Sri Lanka and non-resident Ambassador to the Maldives 1973–75; High Commissioner in New Zealand and concurrently Governor of the

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...

1976–80; and also non-resident High Commissioner in

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

1977–80. After retiring from the Diplomatic Service, Smedley was chairman of the London board of

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

1983–89 and a member of

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 7 ...

1989–93. He was president of the

Hakluyt Society The Hakluyt Society is a text publication society, founded in 1846 and based in London, England, which publishes scholarly editions of primary records of historic voyages, travels and other geographical material. In addition to its publishing rol ...

1987–92. Smedley was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1946 for his wartime service,

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

in the New Year Honours of 1965 and knighted as a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the New Year Honours of 1978. He was made a Serving Brother of the Order of St John in 1963.

Family

During his first posting to Wellington, New Zealand, Smedley met and married Beryl Harley Brown. As Beryl Smedley she wrote ''Partners in Diplomacy: The Changing Face of the Diplomat's Wife'' (Harley Press, 1990, ). She died in 2011.Beryl Smedley obituary
''The Guardian'', London, 4 August 2011

References

External links

SMEDLEY, Sir Harold
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012
Obituary: Sir Harold Smedley
''The Guardian'', London, 25 February 2004
Sir Harold Smedley
(obituary), ''The Times'', London, 26 February 2004, page 39
Interview with Sir Harold Smedley

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1997 * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smedley, Harold 1920 births 2004 deaths People educated at Aldenham School Members of West Sussex County Council Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Royal Marines personnel of World War II High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Ghana Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Laos High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Sri Lanka High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to the Maldives High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to New Zealand Governors of Pitcairn High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Samoa Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Order of the British Empire Serving Brothers of the Order of St John Royal Marines Commando officers British expatriates in India British expatriates in Southern Rhodesia Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office