Sir Percivale Liesching (1 April 1895 – 4 November 1973) was a British civil servant who held two posts as

Permanent Under-Secretary 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 ...

and was High Commissioner in South Africa.

Biography

Born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Liesching was educated at Bedford School and Brasenose College, Oxford. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the Rifle Brigade. He held the post of Permanent Under-Secretary,

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

, from 1946–1948, and then Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations from 1949–1955. In the latter position he was active in persuading British government ministers to bar

Seretse Khama Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980. Born into an influential royal fa ...

, heir to the throne in the African state of Bechuanaland, not only from becoming king but from ever returning to his country after he had visited Britain for talks about his future. Liesching's main motivation for urging such action was that Khama had married a white English woman,

Ruth Williams Ruth Williams ''Heverly(February 12, 1926 – February 10, 2005) was a pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at , 139 lb., she batted and threw right-handed. Ruth Williams debuted ...

- an inter-racial marriage to which the leaders of apartheid South Africa, a neighbouring state of Bechuanaland, had objected vehemently. According to the historian Susan Williams in her book ''Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation'', Liesching 'as official head of the Commonwealth Relations Office, had been instrumental in Seretse's exile', and his desire to carry out South Africa's wishes on Seretse 'was generated from deeply felt racism'.Williams, Susan. 2006. Colour Bar. Allen Lane. p 73-74 In 1955 Liesching left the CRO to take up an appointment as High Commissioner in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, a post he held until 1958. His replacement at the CRO was Sir Gilbert Laithwaite, under whom a more enlightened attitude towards Khama's marriage emerged almost immediately. Within a year both Khama and his wife had been allowed to return to Bechuanaland and eventually Khama led the country to independence as Botswana. Liesching died in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of Bromley and Greenwich. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, on 4 November 1973.

Sources

*
LIESCHING, Sir Percivale
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014) *Williams, Susan. 2006. Colour Bar. Allen Lane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liesching, Percivale 1895 births 1973 deaths People educated at Bedford School Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Food Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to South Africa Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office