Sir Hugh Gurney (4 February 1878 – 7 March 1968) was a British diplomat. Gurney was the son of

John Gurney (1845–1887) John Gurney (1845–1887), a member of the renowned Gurney banking family of Norfolk, was mayor of Norwich. Early life John Gurney was born on 11 December 1845 at Earlham Hall, Norfolk, son of Rev John Gurney (1809–1856) and Laura Elizabeth ...

, a member of the influential Quaker Gurney banking family, and Isabel Blake-Humfrey. He joined the diplomatic service and served in various early postings in Europe. From 1911 he worked as secretary to the British Embassy in Berlin. Following the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was appointed as First Secretary to the Embassy in Copenhagen on 16 August 1914, where he served through most of the conflict. Gurney was not popular at Copenhagen where he was accused of being timid and lacking in judgement by Ambassador

Ralph Paget Sir Ralph Spencer Paget (26 November 1864 – 11 May 1940) was a British diplomat in the Foreign Service, culminating in his appointment as Ambassador to Brazil in 1918, a position he held until 1920. Early life and career Ralph Spencer Page ...

. When Paget took up the position of Ambassador to Brazil in the summer of 1918, the Foreign Office in London decided to remove Gurney from Copenhagen as well due to his being almost universally disliked by his subordinates. On 10 July 1918 Lord Kilmarnock replaced Gurney as First Secretary. This highly unusual move of replacing the First Secretary at the same time as the Ambassador threatened to cut short Gurney's advancement and diplomatic career, but the crisis eventually passed. Hugh Gurney returned to Copenhagen as Ambassador to Denmark in his own right in 1933, serving until 1935. He also followed in Paget's footsteps, serving as Ambassador to Brazil from 1935 to 1939. He was invested as a Member of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

and as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1935. He married Mariota Susan Carnegie (1892–1980), daughter of Sir Lancelot Douglas Carnegie and Marion Alice de Gourney Barclay, on 3 July 1911. Together they had two children. One of their daughters married Lord John Kerr, younger brother of

Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian Peter Francis Walter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, (8 September 1922 – 11 October 2004) was a British peer, politician and landowner. He was the son of Captain Andrew William Kerr by his wife, Marie Kerr. Both of his parents were male- ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney, Hugh 1878 births 1968 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Royal Victorian Order Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Denmark Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Brazil Chief Secretaries of Palestine

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...