John Patrick Edward Chandos Henniker-Major, 8th Baron Henniker (19 February 1916 – 29 April 2004), known as Sir John Henniker-Major from 1965 to 1980, was a British peer, civil servant, and diplomat.

Early life and military service

Henniker was the eldest son of John Ernest de Grey Henniker-Major, 7th Baron Henniker, and Molly Burnet. He was educated at

Stowe Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School * Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish * Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire * Stowe, Linc ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he gained a First in Modern Languages.''The Daily Telegraph'', 'Lord Henniker obituary' (4 May 2004). He entered the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1938, completing the entrance examinations at the top of his intake. He was appointed Third Secretary that year. Following the outbreak of 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 opposin ...

, Henniker was released for military service. He was commissioned as an officer into the Rifle Brigade, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war he served in the Western Desert campaign, being wounded in Libya and hospitalised in Cairo.''The Guardian'', 'Lord Henniker obituary' (4 May 2004). In 1943 he joined Fitzroy Maclean's mission in Yugoslavia ( Macmis) whilst on secondment to the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

and appointed as a British Liaison Officer (BLO) to

Koča Popović Konstantin "Koča" Popović ( sr-cyrl, Константин "Коча" Поповић; 14 March 1908 – 20 October 1992) was a Yugoslav politician and communist volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, 1937–1939 and Divisional Commander of the Fir ...

, the most prominent Partisan commander. In August 1944, the three men agreed the scope and tactics of the Operation Ratweek in central Serbia, which severely damaged German ambitions to withdraw troops from Greece and the southern Balkans. In 1945 he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

Diplomatic and later career

After the war he returned to the diplomatic service and served at the British Embassy in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

from 1945 to 1946, as Assistant Private Secretary to the

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–19 ...

from 1946 to 1948, at the Foreign Office from 1948 to 1950 and at the British Embassy in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

from 1950 to 1952. From 1953 to 1960 he was Head of the Personnel Department at the Foreign Office. In 1960 Henniker was appointed Ambassador to Jordan, a post he held until 1962, and was then Ambassador to Denmark from 1962 to 1966. He served as Assistant Under-Secretary of State from 1966 to 1967 but declined the ambassadorships to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

as he wanted to stay in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1968 he became Director-General of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

, which he remained until 1972, before being invited to resign by Lord Fulton on the pretext of his wife's failing health. Henniker devoted the later part of his life to charitable causes, especially in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

where his family had their ancestral seat. In 1980 he succeeded as eighth Baron Henniker on the death of his 97-year-old father and assumed his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. In the Lords, he briefly served as a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. He was made a CMG in 1956, a CVO in 1960 and knighted a

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

in 1965 New Year Honours.

Family

John Henniker-Major married

Osla Benning Margaret Osla Henniker-Major, Lady Henniker-Major (''née'' Benning; 23 August 1921 – 29 October 1974) was a Canadian debutante, who worked at Bletchley Park, was Prince Philip's first girlfriend, and later married John Henniker-Major (later ...

in 1946. They had three children: *Mark Ian Philip Chandos Henniker-Major, 9th Baron Henniker (born 29 September 1947), married Lesley Antoinette Foskett *Hon. Charles John Giles Henniker-Major (2 September 1949 – 9 May 2012), married Sally Kemp Newby *Hon. Jane Elizabeth Henniker-Major (born 6 July 1954), married

Richard Spring, Baron Risby Richard John Grenville Spring, Baron Risby (born 24 September 1946) is a former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury St Edmunds from 1992 to 1997, and for West Suffolk from 1997 ...

After his first wife's death in 1974 he married Julia Poland (née Mason) in 1976. He died in April 2004, aged 88, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

Arms

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, *
The Independent Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henniker, John Henniker-Major, 8th Baron 1916 births 2004 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People educated at Stowe School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Diplomatic peers Rifle Brigade officers British Army personnel of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Military Cross Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Denmark Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Jordan People associated with the University of East Anglia Eldest sons of British hereditary barons Barons Henniker