Sir Philip Robert Aked Mansfield, KCMG (9 May 1926 – 14 May 2003) was a British diplomat.

Biography

Mansfield was born in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

, the son of Philip Theodore Mansfield, CSI, CIE and Helen Rosamond Aked. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

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 ...

, where he graduated BA in 1949. From 1944 to 1947 he served in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. Mansfield joined the

Sudan Political Service Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...

in 1950. In 1955, he joined

HM Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Home Civil Service, which d ...

, and was posted to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

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 ...

, and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. An Africa specialist, he was Head of the Rhodesia Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1969 to 1972. After attending the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in 1973, Mansfield was posted to Nairobi as Counsellor and Head of Chancery of the British High Commission in 1974, and was promoted to Deputy High Commissioner in 1976. From 1976 to 1979, he was Assistant Under-Secretary of State, with overall responsibility for African affairs; he was concurrently

Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory The Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory is the head of government in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The Commissioner is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the Foreig ...

. From 1979 to 1981, Mansfield was Deputy British Representative to the United Nations in New York. His final posting was as

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

from 1981 to 1984. Mansfield was appointed CMG in 1973 and KCMG in 1984.

Family

In 1953, Mansfield married Elinor Russell MacHatton, an anthropologist he met in the Sudan; they had two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Philip 1926 births 2003 deaths People from Harrogate Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Grenadier Guards officers Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Commissioners of the British Indian Ocean Territory British ambassadors to the Netherlands Sudan Political Service officers