Lord Nicholas Charles Gordon-Lennox (31 January 1931 – 11 October 2004), the younger son of the 9th Duke of Richmond and his wife, Elizabeth, was a British

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, serving as Her Majesty's Ambassador to Spain from 1984 to 1989.

Background and early life

Gordon-Lennox was born the younger son of Frederick Gordon-Lennox, the Earl of March and Kinrara. On his grandfather's death in 1935, his father succeeded as the 9th Duke of Richmond, with Gordon-Lennox becoming 'Lord Nicholas'. He was raised at the family home of Goodwood House before being sent with his elder brother,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

. He returned to Britain in 1944 to join

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and later won a scholarship to read

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

Career

After graduation and

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 ...

with the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, he joined HM Foreign Service in 1954 and became Private Secretary to the

British Ambassador to the United States The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America. T ...

, Sir Harold Caccia, in 1957, for which he was awarded the

LVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

. He transferred to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in 1961 as Second Secretary, and then First Secretary, at

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. In 1963, he returned to England again to become Private Secretary to Caccia again, in the latter's post as

Parliamentary Under-Secretary Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

at the Foreign Office, before moving to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

as Head of the Chancery in 1966. After a brief secondment at the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

from 1971 to 1973, he became Head of the News Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and then Head of the North American Department in 1974, before becoming a Counsellor at

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1975 and was awarded the CMG in 1978. In 1979 he became Assistant Under-Secretary at the Foreign Commonwealth Office and his final diplomatic post was as

British Ambassador to Spain The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Spain is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in the Kingdom of Spain, and in charge of the UK's diplomatic mission in Spain. The official title is His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador ...

from 1984 to 1989. Gordon-Lennox was then a Governor of the BBC from 1990 and retired in 1998.

Personal life

He married Mary Williamson, daughter of Brigadier Hudleston Noel Hedworth Williamson, on 14 January 1958. cites . They had four children and eleven grandchildren:The Peerage, entry for Lord Sir Nicholas Charles Gordon-Lennox
/ref> *Sarah Caroline Gordon-Lennox (20 January 1960); married Dominic Caldecott in 1988. They have three sons and one daughter. *Henrietta Mary Gordon-Lennox (8 January 1962); married Michael Lindsell in 1992. They have three children, two sons and a daughter. *Lucy Elizabeth Gordon-Lennox (28 December 1965); married

Mark Cornell Mark Ralph Delano Cornell (born 30 May 1966) is a British businessman, who was formerly CEO of Moët Hennessy USA, and is the current CEO of Ambassador Theatre Group The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is a major international theatre org ...

on 7 December 1996. They have four children, two sons and two daughters. *Anthony Charles Gordon-Lennox (26 April 1969 – 7 October 2017). He died on 11 October 2004, aged 73.

Honours

Gordon-Lennox was awarded the Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

in 1986, for his role as Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Spain. He was promoted to KCMG in 1986 and then KCVO in 1989.

Posts and offices

References

Sources

Profile
burkes-peerage.net
Obituary
telegraph.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordonlennox, Lord Nicholas 1931 births 2004 deaths Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic People educated at Eton College Younger sons of dukes King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain