Jeremy Richard Lovering Grosvenor Varcoe (born 20 September 1937) is a former

British diplomat 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 ...

, who also served as an Immigration Tribunal Appeal judge.

Education

Jeremy Varcoe was educated at Charterhouse School in Surrey, and at Lincoln College, Oxford. He served in

HM Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...

1956-58 and in HMOCS ( Swaziland) 1962–65. He was called to the Bar,

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

in 1966.

Diplomatic career

Jeremy Varcoe joined the FCO as First Secretary in 1970. He was seconded as Deputy Secretary-General to the

Pearce Commission The Commission on Rhodesian Opinion, also known as the Pearce Commission, was a British commission set up in 1971 by Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home to test the acceptability of a proposed constitutional settlement in Rhod ...

on Rhodesian Opinion in 1972. Later that year, he was posted to

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 1974, he was posted to Lusaka as Head of Chancery, returning to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1978. He was appointed Counsellor at

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

in 1979. Jeremy Varcoe was appointed Head of the FCO's Southern African Department in 1982. Following the Coventry Four affair in March 1984, he was sent as Counsellor to Ankara. Varcoe was seconded to Standard Chartered Bank in 1985. Subsequently, Jeremy Varcoe was appointed Ambassador to

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

in 1987. He coordinated the 17th G8 summit at

Lancaster House Lancaster House (originally known as York House and then Stafford House) is a mansion in the St James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St James's Palace, and much of the site was once part of the palace complex. This Gr ...

in 1991, and later served as Assistant Under-Secretary of State at the FCO until he retired in 1997.

Post retirement

In 2004, Jeremy Varcoe was one of 50 former ambassadors who signed a letter to

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

urging him to distance Britain from US policy in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. He became an Immigration Appeals Tribunal judge in 1998 but was forced to retire in 2007 at the age of 70. Varcoe then sued the Ministry of Justice for discriminating against him on account of his age.

Family

He married Wendy Anne Moss in 1961. They had two daughters (1964 and 1966).

References

External links

Jeremy Varcoe's links to the "Lovering Dry Clay" at Pochin House

Jeremy Varcoe on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varcoe, Jeremy 1937 births Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford 20th-century English judges Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Living people Members of HM Diplomatic Service People educated at Charterhouse School Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Somalia 20th-century British diplomats 21st-century English judges