Humphrey Trevelyan, Baron Trevelyan, (27 November 1905 – 9 February 1985) was a British colonial administrator, diplomat and writer. Having begun his career in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

and

Indian Political Service The Indian Political Department, formerly part of the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India, was a government department in British India. The department looked after the diplomatic and "political" relations with the subs ...

, he transferred to

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 Civil Service, which deals ...

upon Indian independence in 1947, and had a distinguished career during which he held several important ambassadorships.

Biography

Trevelyan was born at the parsonage,

Hindhead Hindhead is a village in the Waverley, Surrey, Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England. It is the highest village in the county and its buildings are between and above sea level. The village forms part of the Haslemere parish. Situ ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, the younger son of the Reverend George Trevelyan, great-grandson of the Venerable George Trevelyan,

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

, third son of

Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet (6 February 1735 – 18 April 1828) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1777 to 1796. Origins A member of an ancient family of Cornwall, he was the only son and heir of Sir George Treve ...

. His elder brother John Trevelyan was the Secretary of the Board of the

British Board of Film Censors The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films A film, also known as a movie ...

. The historian

George Macaulay Trevelyan George Macaulay Trevelyan (16 February 1876 – 21 July 1962) was an English historian and academic. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1898 to 1903. He then spent more than twenty years as a full-time author. He returned to th ...

was a second cousin. He was educated at Lancing and

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, where he read Classics. After Cambridge, Trevelyan joined the

in 1929, transferring to the

in 1932. He served in India until independence in 1947, then transferred to

. He held many key diplomatic posts, including ''

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

'' in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

after the Revolution, ambassador to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

at the time of

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

, a development with which he was clearly uncomfortable, ambassador to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

at the time of the 1961

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

crisis, Iraq's first attempt to annex Kuwait, and ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. On his retirement in 1965, he was offered the post of

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (and its predecessors) since 1790. Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State f ...

, which he declined in order that a younger man should be appointed. Aden Nov 30 1967

He completed forty years of public service as the last high commissioner of

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, having been coaxed out of retirement by Foreign Secretary

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

, where he wound up British protection and oversaw the British withdrawal from what had been the

Aden Protectorate The Aden Protectorate ( ') was a British protectorate in southern Arabia. The protectorate evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut after the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India in January ...

and became

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

. While Ambassador to Iraq, he held the customary position of vice-president of the

British School of Archaeology in Iraq The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) (formerly the British School of Archaeology in Iraq) is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia. It was founded in 1932 and its aim ...

. Unlike his predecessors, he took an active interest, visiting excavations and offering hospitality when needed. After leaving Iraq, he remained a member of the council. In 1982, he was elected president in succession to

Seton Lloyd Seton Howard Frederick Lloyd, (30 May 1902 – 7 January 1996), was an English archaeologist. He was President of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (President, 1948–1961), Pro ...

. However, ill health meant his resigned the following year, and was succeeded by Barbara Parker-Mallowan. Trevelyan wrote a number of books about his career, including ''The Middle East in Revolution'' (1970) and ''The India We Left'' (1972). He also wrote a memoir ''Public and Private'' (1980). On 12 February 1968, he was awarded a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

with the title Baron Trevelyan, ''of Saint Veep in the County of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

''. He was introduced to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on 21 February 1968. Trevelyan married Violet Margaret "Peggy" Bartholomew, only daughter of General Sir William Henry Bartholomew, in 1937; they had two daughters.

Arms

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Trevelyan, Humphrey 1905 births 1985 deaths People educated at Lancing College Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Egypt Knights of the Garter Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Officers of the Order of the British Empire Life peers Diplomatic peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II British colonial governors and administrators in Asia Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union People of the Aden Emergency People from the Colony of Aden Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Iraq Indian Political Service officers Trevelyan family

Biography

Arms

See also

References