Sir Laurence Barton Grafftey-Smith (16 April 1892 – 3 January 1989) was a member of the British Consular Service from 1916 to 1947. His grandson was musician

Toby Smith Toby Grafftey-Smith (29 October 1970 – 11 April 2017), known professionally as Toby Smith, was an English musician, most famous for being the keyboardist and co-songwriter for Jamiroquai from 1992 until his departure in 2002. Background and ...

Early life

Born to parents Revd. Arthur Grafftey-Smith and Mabel Grafftey-Smith (née Barton), he was educated

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

Career

His posts included being the British High Commissioner in

Karachi, Pakistan Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

(1947–1949). During his tenure, “he warned Pakistani Foreign Minister Sir

Zafarullah Khan Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan ( ur, ‎; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his international ...

that an upcoming visit to Moscow (by invitation) would be seen with mistrust by Americans and the British. Prime Minister of Pakistan

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

later cancelled the visit.” He was Consul-General to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Jeddah (from 20 October 1945). He was appointed Knight Commander, Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.) and Knight Commander, Order of St. Michael and St. George (K.C.M.G.).Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 3, p. 3160 In 1970 he published his memoirs of his time in the Middle East, under the title ''Bright Levant'' (London, John Murray, 1970). His book includes interesting description of his friendship with King Abdul Aziz Ibn Sa'ud in the early days of his reign, before Saudi Arabia came into its oil wealth.

References

1892 births 1989 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge People educated at Clifton College High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Pakistan Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George {{UK-diplomat-stub