Wilfred Gilbert Thesiger DSO (25 March 1871 – 31 January 1920) was a British officer and diplomat, who was British Minister in Ethiopia from 1909 to 1919.

Background and early life

Thesiger was born into a well-connected family of politicians, officers and diplomats. He was a younger son of the 2nd Baron Chelmsford by Adria Fanny Heath, daughter of Major-General John Coussamker Heath. His father was a General, his grandfather the 1st Baron Chelmsford was twice Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom, and his elder brother Frederic Thesiger had a distinguished career as colonial governor, became Viceroy of India and was created Viscount Chelmsford. Lieutenant-General Sir Eric Thesiger was a younger brother.

Career

In 1896 Thesiger stayed in the Vice-Consulate in Van, Eastern Turkey, to learn Turkish. Between 1897 and 1900 he was Vice-Consul to Taranto. Following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

in late 1899, Thesiger volunteered for active service and was attached as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

to the 59th Company of the 15th Battalion,

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

, on 24 March 1900. The company had left the United Kingdom for South Africa in the SS ''Mahratta'' in early March 1900. After arrival, he fought with the battalion between 1900 and 1901, and was mentioned in despatches. For his services he was appointed a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

(DSO) in 1900 and promoted to the rank of captain. He resigned his commission in December 1901, and was granted the honorary rank of captain in the army. Following his return to Europe, he re-entered the diplomatic service, and held the following offices: Tafari Thesiger 1917

* 1901-1906: Vice-Consul to Belgrade * 1906-1908: Consul to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

* 1908-1909: Consul to Boma, Congo While British Vice Consul to the Congo he spent three months in the Kasai basin and reported to the British Parliament on incidents of starvation and brutality in the region while people were put to work as slaves on rubber plantations in the Belgium-controlled Congo Free State. From 1909 until 1919 he was Consul-General at Addis Ababa, with the local rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of the Emperor. He fought in the First World War, where he was mentioned in despatches. He was decorated with the award of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia (1st Class).

Family

Thesiger married Kathleen Mary Vigors, aged 29, daughter of Thomas Mercer Cliffe Vigors, at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square, in London, on 21 August 1909. They had four children: * Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, b. 3 June 1910, d. 24 August 2003 *Colonel Brian Peirson Doughty-Wylie, b. 4 October 1911, d. 1982 *P/O. Dermot Vigors Thesiger, b. 24 March 1914, d. 28 April 1942 *Captain Roderic Miles Doughty Thesiger, b. 8 November 1915, d. 5 March 2005 Thesiger lived at The Milebrook, Bucknell,

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Styles

* Mr Wilfred Thesiger (1871–1878) * The Hon Wilfred Thesiger (1878–1920)

References

Congo - King Leopold's Ghost, Hochschild (Adam) Ch.17 p. 262

External links

* 1871 births 1920 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ethiopia Imperial Yeomanry officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Wilfred Gilbert Younger sons of barons {{UK-diplomat-stub