Hugh Michael Carless CMG (22 April 1925 – 20 December 2011) was a British diplomat, philanthropist and explorer who served in

Her Majesty's 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 policy, foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Servi ...

from 1950 to 1985. He is best known for the exploration of

Nuristan Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan (Dari: ; Kamkata-vari language, Kamkata-vari: ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven Districts of Afghanistan, districts ...

and the

Panjshir Valley The Panjshir Valley (also spelled Panjsher or Darah-I-Panjshir; Pashto/Dari: – ''Dare-ye Panjšēr''; literally ''Valley of the Five Lions'') is a valley in northeastern Afghanistan, north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. It is di ...

along with his friend

Eric Newby George Eric Newby (6 December 1919 – 20 October 2006) was an English travel writer. His works include '' A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'', '' The Last Grain Race'' and ''A Small Place in Italy''. Early life Newby was born in Barnes, London, ...

, which was the subject of Newby's humorous travel book ''

A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush ''A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'' is a 1958 book by the English travel writer Eric Newby. It is an autobiographical account of his adventures in the Hindu Kush, around the Nuristan mountains of Afghanistan, ostensibly to make the first mounta ...

'' (1958).

Biography

Carless was born on 22 April 1925 in

Nainital Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, to Henry Alfred Carless, CIE, who served as a police officer in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

(Inspector-General of Police,

Ajmer-Merwara Ajmer-Merwara, also known as Ajmir Province and as Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, was a former province of British India in the historical Ajmer region. The territory was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on 25 June 1818. It was und ...

and advisor to the Resident of Rajputana) and his wife, Gwendolen Pattullo. He was educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

, Dorset, the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

(SOAS) where he spent a year (1942) studying Persian (Farsi), and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

where he read History from 1947 until 1950. Carless was commissioned in January 1944 in the Intelligence Corps and posted to Teheran as a staff officer with the

12th Indian Division The 12th Indian Division was formed in March 1915 from units of the British Indian Army. It formed part of the Tigris Corps, for service during the Mesopotamia Campaign of World War I. The Division arrived in Mesopotamia in April 1915 and remai ...

, but volunteered for active service, first with the 5th Infantry Division, and later, in the last nine months of World War II he served in the 15th Scottish with the 6th Battalion of the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

. Carless entered

His Majesty's 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 d ...

in 1950 and served as Third Secretary in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

from 1951 to 1953 and Second Secretary in

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 b ...

from 1953 to 1956. From 1956 to 1958 Carless was posted to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

as First (Oriental) Secretary. Between 1958 and 1961 he worked in the Information Research Dept, FO, and as Private Secretary to Lord Dundee, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (1961 to 1963). From 1963 to 1966 Carless served as Head of Chancery at the British Embassy in Budapest. Subsequent postings were as Consul-General to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

from 1967 to 1970, and as Press and Information Counsellor to Bonn from 1970 to 1973. He headed the Latin America department of the Foreign Office from 1973 to 1977, before his ministerial appointment as chargé d'affaires in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 1977 until 1980, where he monitored the disputed sovereignty of islands in the Beagle Channel, and the Falklands. This was followed by a two-year secondment to Northern Engineering Industries International Limited. From 1982 to 1985 Carless served as Ambassador to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

until his retirement. He retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1985 on superannuation. Following his retirement in 1985, Carless served as Vice-Chairman of the South Atlantic Council based in London, and between 1994 and 1996 he chaired the influential series of Argentine-British Conferences which helped to re-instate full diplomatic relations between the two countries after the Falklands war. He was the executive vice-president of the philanthropic Hinduja Foundation, which awarded scholarships to students from India. During his service as First Secretary in Tehran in 1956, Carless received a telegraph from the British explorer and travel writer,

, requesting him to accompany Newby on an expedition to the province of

in northern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, to which Carless replied in the affirmative. This expedition was the subject of Newby's much loved travel book ''

'' (1958). Carless married Brazilian Rosa Maria Frontini in 1956. The couple had two sons. He is buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

with his wife and one of his sons.

Honours

Carless was made a

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 1976.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carless, Hugh 1925 births 2011 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George English philanthropists People from Nainital People educated at Sherborne School Alumni of SOAS University of London Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II Intelligence Corps officers Royal Scots Fusiliers officers Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Venezuela British people in colonial India