Sir Walter Roberts (14 December 1893 – 18 November 1978) was a British diplomat. He was the only son of Judge Roberts, a Judge of the Clerkenwell County Court.

Career

Walter St Clair Howland Roberts 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

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

. He was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

on 4 April 1914, withdrawing without being

Called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 13 January 1927. During the

First World War 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 was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

1914–16, then served with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

1917–19. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1918; the citation read:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When his battery was under heavy shell fire, his utter contempt for danger was an inspiring example to all ranks, and it was largely due to his coolness that all guns were saved.

Roberts entered the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1919. He was head of the Western Europe Department 1936–39 and of the Prisoner of War Department 1941–45. He was

British Ambassador to Peru British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

1945–48; Minister to Romania 1949–51;Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 January 1951
/ref> and finally Minister to the Holy See 1951–53. Walter Roberts was appointed CMG in 1937 and knighted KCMG in 1951. He was made an Officer of the Order of St John in 1974.

References

ROBERTS, Sir Walter St Clair Howland
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, accessed 19 March 2012
Sir Walter Roberts
photo in "UK in Holy See's photostream" on flickr.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Walter 1893 births 1978 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Peru Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Holy See Recipients of the Military Cross Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of St John British Army personnel of World War I Royal Field Artillery officers British World War I prisoners of war