Sir Henry Getty Chilton (15 October 1877 – 20 November 1954) was a British diplomat who was minister to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

and ambassador to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

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 ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

Career

He was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

and joined the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

as an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

in 1902. He served at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

;

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

;

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

;

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and

Washington, DC ) , 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 ...

, before he was appointed Counseller of Embassy at

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 ...

in 1920 and then at Washington, DC, in 1921. In 1924, he was promoted to be Minister to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

under the Ambassador, Sir Esmé Howard. Still with the rank of minister, he was the British envoy to the Vatican from 1928 to 1930. He was then promoted to ambassador and posted to Chile 1930–33, to Argentina (1933–1935) and to Spain (1935-1939). Soon after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, several embassies in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, including the British, evacuated to

Hendaye Hendaye ( Basque: ''Hendaia'')HENDAIA
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' stated, "His has been an exacting, delicate and in many respects a thankless task, carried out with unfailing courtesy and devotion to duty." Geoffrey Thompson, secretary to the embassy, was '' chargé d'affaires'' until Owen O'Malley, who held the rank of minister, took over the embassy at Hendaye. Chilton returned to Hendaye in May 1939 on his way to Madrid to collect his belongings. He was succeeded as ambassador by Sir

Maurice Peterson Sir Maurice Drummond Peterson GCMG (10 March 1889 – 15 March 1952) was a British diplomat who was minister or ambassador to several countries. Career Maurice Drummond Peterson was the younger son of William Peterson (later Sir William Peterso ...

in the autumn of 1939. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, Chilton worked in the

Ministry of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. See also * Blockade of Germany (193 ...

and then in the Ministry of Information. He accompanied

Lord Willingdon Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941), was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and ...

on a trade mission to South America in 1940 to 1941. Sir Henry also served in the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting w ...

from 18 June 1940 to 13 September 1941.

Family

Born on 15 October 1877 at West Clandon, Guildford, Surrey. His mother was Caroline Chilton and father Alfred R.T.Chilton. In 1906, while he was serving in Copenhagen, Chilton married Katherine, the daughter of Thomas J. O'Brien, the US ambassador to Denmark. They had two daughters. Katherine died in 1959.

Honours

Henry Chilton was appointed CMG 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 1921, knighted KCMG in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

of 1930 and raised to GCMG in the

of 1934.Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 January 1934
/ref>

Offices held

References

CHILTON, Sir Henry Getty
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, retrieved 6 Sept 2012 *Obituary – Sir Henry Chilton, ''The Times'', London, 22 November 1954, page 8

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Henry 1877 births 1954 deaths People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Holy See Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Chile Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George British Home Guard soldiers