Roger Mellor Makins, 1st Baron Sherfield, (3 February 1904 – 9 November 1996), was a British diplomat who served as
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 ...
from 1953 to 1956.
Background and early life
Makins was the son of Brigadier-General Sir
Ernest Makins
Brigadier-General Sir Ernest Makins, (14 October 1869 – 18 May 1959) was a British military officer, statesman and Conservative Party politician.
Military career
Making was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st (Royal) Dragoons on 2 ...
(1869–1959) and Florence Mellor. He was educated at
Winchester and
Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1927.
Early diplomatic career
However, he never practised and instead joined the Diplomatic Service in 1928. Makins was later appointed to be Minister Plenipotentiary at the
British Embassy in Washington
The British Embassy, Washington D.C. (alternatively in the US, Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C.) is the British sovereign's diplomatic mission to the United States of America, representing the interests of the United Kingdom and ...
in 1945, and served until 1947. He was Assistant Under-Secretary of State at the
Foreign Office from 1947 to 1948 and as Deputy Under-Secretary of State from 1948 to 1952.
Ambassador to the United States
In 1953 he was appointed to be the
Ambassador to the United States
The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, sorted by the representative country or organization.
See also
*Ambassadors of the United States
Notes
{{reflist, 30em
External linksCurrent and former Ambassadors to the United Sta ...
, a post he held until 1956. On the eve of the
Suez Crisis, he was present at the crucial meeting on 25 September 1956 where
Harold Macmillan was apparently persuaded that US President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
had offered the British Government tacit support; Makins, on the other hand, concluded correctly that Eisenhower would not support the intervention.
Later career in the civil service
After his return from
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
he served as Joint Permanent Secretary to
The Treasury from 1956 to 1960 and as Chairman of the
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ...
from 1960 to 1964.
Chancellorship
Makins was appointed to the post of
Chancellor of the
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
in 1969, and retained this position until 1992.
Marriage
On 30 April 1934, in an
Episcopal ceremony in
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...
, he married an American, Alice Brooks Davis (d.1985), the daughter of
Dwight F. Davis
Dwight Filley Davis Sr. (July 5, 1879 – November 28, 1945) was an American tennis player and politician. He is best remembered as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition. He was the Assistant Secretary of War from 1923 to ...
, founder of the
Davis Cup and former US
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
.
Honours
Makins was appointed to the
Order of St Michael and St George as a Companion (CMG) in the
1944 New Year Honours
The 1944 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1944 for the Britis ...
and was promoted in the same Order as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the
1949 Birthday Honours. He was appointed to the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
as a Knight Commander (KCB) in the
1953 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1953 for the United Kingdom were announced on 30 December 1952, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1953. This was the first New Year Honours since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The ''Honours list'' ...
. He was promoted in the
Order of St Michael and St George as a Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in the
1955 New Year Honours and was promoted within the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
as a Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in the
1960 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1960 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...
.
In the
1964 Birthday Honours, Makins was raised to the peerage as Baron Sherfield, ''of Sherfield-on-Loddon in the County of Southampton''.
He was elected to be a Fellow of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
(FRS) under Statute 12 (for those "who have rendered conspicuous service to the cause of science, or are such that election would be of signal benefit to the Society") in 1986.
Arms
The Makins Collection
Makins was a notable collector of Victorian art. The Makins Collection contained important works by
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
.
References
External links
Interview about the Korean Warfor the
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded on-air as GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship property of the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns Boston's se ...
series,
War and Peace in the Nuclear AgeArtworks in the Makins Collectionat the Bridgeman Art Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherfield, Roger Mellor Makins, 1st Baron
1904 births
1996 deaths
Members of HM Diplomatic Service
Chancellors of the University of Reading
Deputy Lieutenants of Hampshire
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Makins, Roger Mellor
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
People educated at West Downs School
Diplomatic peers
People educated at Winchester College
Makins, Roger
Makins, Roger
Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II
People from Sherfield on Loddon
20th-century British diplomats