Sir John William Denys Margetson (9 October 1927 – 17 October 2020) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Vietnam, the United Nations, and the Netherlands.

Early life

Margetson was the younger son of the Very Rev.

William Margetson William James Margetson (29 March 1874 – 30 March 1946) was an eminent Anglican priest in the first half of the twentieth century. He was educated at Oxford University and ordained in 1897. He held Vicar, incumbencies of St Petroc Minor, Littl ...

and Marion Jenoure. He was educated at Blundell's School and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, where he was a

choral scholar A choral scholar is a student either at a university or private school who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir. This is a common practice in the UK at schools attached to cathedrals where the choir is ...

. From 1947 to 1949, Margetson served his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

with the Life Guards regiment of the Household Cavalry.

Diplomatic career

Following his period of National Service Margetson joined the Colonial Service and later the Diplomatic Service where he was speech writer to the Foreign Secretary,

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

, 1966–68. Margetson's later career included appointments as British Ambassador to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

1978–80, deputy Permanent Representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

(with rank of ambassador) 1983–84, and ambassador to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

1984–88. He was appointed CMG in 1979 and knighted KCMG in 1986. Following his retirement from the Foreign Office, Margetson devoted himself to various charities and was chairman of the Royal School of Church Music 1988–94, of the Yehudi Menuhin School 1990–94, and of the joint committee that manages the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

and the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

1991–94. He served as

Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod The Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod is the Gentleman Usher to the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, established in 1818. If the office holder is female, she is referred to as the Lady Usher of the Blue Rod. The office was ...

from 24 July 1992 – 25 October 2002.

Personal life and death

In 1963, Margetson married Miranda, daughter of

Sir William Coldstream Sir William Menzies Coldstream, CBE (28 February 1908 – 18 February 1987) was an English realist painter and a long-standing art teacher. Biography Coldstream was born at Belford, Northumberland, in northern England, the second son of coun ...

. They had a son and a daughter. Margetson died on 17 October 2020, at the age of 93.

References

MARGETSON, Sir John (William Denys)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014;online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014

External links

Interview with Sir John Margetson
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge {{DEFAULTSORT:Margetson, John 1927 births 2020 deaths People educated at Blundell's School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Vietnam