Patrick Richard Henry Wright, Baron Wright of Richmond, (28 June 1931 – 6 March 2020) was a British diplomat who served as Head of HM Diplomatic Service. He sat 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 ...

as a crossbencher from 10 February 1994 until his retirement on 17 December 2019.

Background

Patrick Wright was the son of Herbert and Rachel Wright. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

. Having served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1950 and 1951, he went up to Merton College, Oxford where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in '' Literae humaniores'' in 1955.

Diplomatic career

He joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1955 and went to study

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

at MECAS in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

from 1956 to 1957. He was posted as

Second Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

in the British Embassy in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

from 1958 to 1960. Between 1960 and 1965, he was

Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

to the Ambassador and First Secretary in the

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Embassy, between 1965 and 1967 Private Secretary to the FCO's

Permanent Under-Secretary of State A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil ...

(PUS) and First Secretary and

Head of Chancery A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

in the British Embassy in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

between 1967 and 1970. Wright was Deputy Political Resident in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

in 1971 and 1972, Head of Middle East Department in the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

from 1972 to 1974, and

(Overseas Affairs) to two

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

and

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

from 1974 to 1977. In 1977, Patrick Wright was appointed Ambassador to Luxembourg and to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in 1979, where he remained until 1981. He was Deputy Under-Secretary of State at the FCO from 1982 to 1984. Sir Patrick Wright was appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1984 to 1986. For the next five years he combined the roles of

PUS Pus is an exudate, typically white-yellow, yellow, or yellow-brown, formed at the site of inflammation during bacterial or fungal infection. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess, whereas a visible collection ...

at the FCO and Head of HM Diplomatic Service until he retired in 1991.

Post retirement

In 1991, Lord Wright became a Director of

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

until 1996, of British Petroleum until 2001, of

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that designs and produces banknotes, secure polymer substrate and banknote security features (including security holograms, security threads and security printe ...

until 2000, of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

until 1999 and of BAA until 1998. Between 1993 and 2002, he was a member of the

Security Commission The Security Commission, sometimes known as the Standing Security Commission,Geoffrey Philip Wilson, "Cases and materials on constitutional and administrative law", Cambridge University Press, 1976 p. 98. was a UK non-departmental public body or ...

. He was a member of the Council of Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) from 1992 to 1999, and chairman from 1995 to 1999. He was Member of Council of

Atlantic College Atlantic College (formally the United World College of the Atlantic; alternatively styled UWC Atlantic College, UWCAC, or UWCA) is an independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Founded in 1962, it was the first of ...

between 1993 and 2000, and of 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 ...

from 1991 to 2001. Wright was Governor of the

Ditchley Foundation The Ditchley Foundation is a foundation that holds conferences, with a primary focus on British-American relations. It is based at Ditchley Park near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. It was established as a privately funded charity in 1958 by phil ...

from 1986 until his death in 2020. From 1991 to 2001, he was a Governor of

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, from 1991 to 1995 Registrar of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem, and Director of Overseas Relations from 1995 to 1997. He was a founding trustee of the UK-based family support charity Home-Start International, of which he was Chairman from 2004 to 2007.

Honours

In the 1978 New Year Honours, Wright was appointed to the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

as a Companion (CMG), promoted to be a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 1984 Birthday Honours, and again to be a Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in the 1989 Birthday Honours. One year later he was appointed to the Order of St John as a Knight (KStJ). In the 1994 New Year Honours, it was announced that he would become a life peer and he was raised to the peerage as Baron Wright of Richmond, of Richmond upon Thames in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

on 10 February 1994.

Family

Patrick Wright married Virginia Anne Gaffney in 1958. They had two sons, Marcus (born 1959) and

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

(born 1964), and one daughter, Olivia, Lady McDonald (born 1963), wife of

Simon McDonald, Baron McDonald of Salford Simon Gerard McDonald, Baron McDonald of Salford, (born 9 March 1961) is a British former diplomat who was the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service until September 2020. He was the ...

(later also Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service).

Arms

References

External links

WRIGHT OF RICHMOND
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014) * https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Diplomatic_Cable_signed_by_D.A._Greenhill%2C_dated_August_24%2C_1966.jpg {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Patrick Richard Henry 1931 births 2020 deaths People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Wright of Richmond Diplomatic peers Members of HM Diplomatic Service Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of the Order of St John People associated with the Royal College of Music Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Syria Chairs of the Joint Intelligence Committee (United Kingdom) Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Luxembourg Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs British colonial political officers Private secretaries in the British Civil Service 20th-century British diplomats Life peers created by Elizabeth II