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. From 1947 to 1949, Margetson served his
National Service 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, 1966–68.
Margetson's later career included appointments as British Ambassador to
Vietnam 1978–80, deputy
Permanent Representative to the
United Nations (with rank of ambassador) 1983–84, and ambassador to the
Netherlands 1984–88. He was appointed
CMG
CMG may refer to:
Companies
* Capitol Music Group, a music label
* China Media Group, the predominant state radio and television broadcaster in the PRC
* China Media Group Co., Ltd., publicly listed Chinese holding company in the media sector
* ...
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 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 from 24 July 1992 – 25 October 2002.
Personal life and death
In 1963, Margetson married Miranda, daughter of
Sir William Coldstream. They had a son and a daughter.
Margetson died on 19 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