Peter Beckingham (born 13 March 1949) is a British retired diplomat, who was Governor of the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

2013–2016.

Career

Beckingham was born in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 1949, and was educated at

Chigwell School Chigwell School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition located in Chigwell, in the Epping Forest (district), Epping Forest district of Essex. It consists of ...

and

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

. In 1966, he received a scholarship from the

Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...

to teach in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

.''World Who's Who'', Europa Publications, 2013. In 1970, he joined

Argo Records Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 as a division of Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Ar ...

, a division of

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. In 1974, he worked for the international trade mission, the

British Overseas Trade Board The British Overseas Trade Board was an export promotion agency of the UK Department of Trade and Industry from 1972 to 1988. It was set up in 1972 to replace the British Export Board.'The Penguin Dictionary of Economics' George Bannock, R. E. Ba ...

, then

British Information Services British Information Services (BIS) was an overt propaganda organization that was part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the government of the United Kingdom. BIS was initially formed in 1941 as an organization to promote British interests ...

in New York from 1979. In 1984, he joined 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 ...

(FCO) in the news department for the

10th G7 summit The 10th G7 Summit was held in London, England, United Kingdom from 7 to 9 June 1984. The venue for the summit meetings was Lancaster House in London.Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affa ...

in London, and then went on to work for the Energy, Science and Space Department, as head of the East African Department, and as head of sections in Sweden and Australia.Change of Governor of Turks and Caicos Islands
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 29 May 2013. From 2005 to 2009, Beckingham was British Ambassador to the Philippines. In 2010, he became Deputy High Commissioner to India. In October 2013, he succeeded Ric Todd as

Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands The Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos Islands. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British g ...

. In June 2016 the FCO announced that he was to be replaced in October 2016 and was to retire from the Diplomatic Service.Change of Governor of Turks and Caicos Islands
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 15 June 2016.

Publications

*Beckingham, Peter, ''South Downs Showcase - 200 Years of Creativity around Lodsworth, Petworth and Midhurst'', Lodsworth Heritage Society, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckingham, Peter 1949 births Living people Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Philippines Governors of the Turks and Caicos Islands Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge People educated at Chigwell School