Miles Wedderburn Lampson, 1st Baron Killearn, (24 August 1880 – 18 September 1964) was a British diplomat.
Background and education
Miles Lampson was the son of Norman Lampson, and grandson of
Sir Curtis Lampson, 1st Baronet. His mother was Helen, daughter of
Peter Blackburn, MP for
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties.
It borders Perthshir ...
.
He was educated at
Eton.
Diplomatic career
Lampson 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
* United ...
in 1903. He served as Secretary to Garter Mission, Japan, in 1906, as 2nd Secretary at
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, between 1908 and 1910, as 2nd Secretary at
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
in 1911, as 1st Secretary at
Peking in 1916, as Acting British High Commissioner in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
in 1920 and as British Minister to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
between 1926 and 1933.
In 1934 he was appointed
High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan. In 1935 following demands from the Egyptian prime minister
Mostafa el-Nahas
Mostafa el-Nahas Pasha or Mostafa Nahas (; June 15, 1879 – August 23, 1965) was an Egyptians, Egyptian politician who served as the Prime Minister for five terms.
Early life, education and exile
He was born in Samanud (Gharbia Governorat ...
for a new Anglo-Egyptian treaty, Lampson embarked on the talks. The increasing aggressive claims by Italy that the entire Mediterranean and Red Sea areas were in the Italian sphere of influence led to Lampson being instructed that because of "the rise of Italy as a Mediterranean and North African Power that "that the retention of a British garrison on the Suez Canal and at or in the vicinity of Alexandria is essential". Despite the apparent weaker hand of el-Nahas, the two were about equal as the Foreign Secretary
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957.
Achi ...
advised Lampson: "Failure to negotiate a treaty with Egypt, followed by disturbances in that country, their suppression by British forces and the government of Egypt by His Majesty's Government by force and against the will of the Egyptian people, would be represented throughout the Arab Near East possibly as a sign of British bad faith, certainly as a proof of British imperialism pursued at the expense of a weaker Mohametan country".
As a result of the
Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936, to which Lampson was a signatory, Britain loosened its grip on
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 ...
and the post title was changed to
Ambassador to Egypt and High Commissioner for the Sudan in 1936. Under the terms of the treaty signed on 26 August 1936, the British retained the Suez canal base; the right to use Alexandria as a naval base for the next 8 years along with the right to station air and ground forces to defend the Alexandria base; the right to defend the Egyptian border with the Italian colony of Libya; and the right to use all facilities in Egypt to support British forces in the event of war. Lampson made the concessions, but all the essential points, the Anglo-Egyptian treaty was a triumph for British interests. Lampson was helped by the fact that el-Nahas and the rest of the Wafd were also concerned about Italian imperialism. Lampson continued in this office until 1946. As ambassador to Egypt he forced
King Farouk I
Farouk I (; ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I of Egypt, Fuad I, in 1936 and reig ...
to change the cabinet to a
Wafdist one through surrounding the king's palace with tanks in the
Abdeen Palace incident of 1942.
He was then Special Commissioner in Southeast Asia between 1946 and 1948. He was admitted to the
Privy Council in 1941 and raised to the peerage as ''
Baron Killearn'', of
Killearn
Killearn (, from orig. ''Ceann Fhearann'', "Head/End of (the) Land/Territory"; until the 15th century when ''Ceann'' was replaced by ''Cill''; denoting the presence of a house of worship)Knight "What's in a Name"(August 2014) (pdf) ''Killearn C ...
in the County of Stirling, on 17 May 1943. He was also awarded the
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon of Japan
["Pax Britannica (3rd Class)"](_blank)
''Time'', 16 May 1932. and the
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon of Japan.
Family
Lord Killearn married firstly Rachel, daughter of William Wilton Phipps, in 1912. They had one son and two daughters:
*
Graham Curtis Lampson, 2nd Baron Killearn (1919–1996). He died leaving daughters only, the youngest Hon. Nadine Marisa Lampson being married to Sir
Nicholas Bonsor, Bt.
* Hon. Mary Lampson
* Hon. Margaret Lampson
After Rachel's death in 1930 he married secondly Jacqueline Aldine Leslie Castellani (1910–2015), daughter of
Aldo Castellani,
(Hon.), in 1934. They had one son and two daughters:
*
Victor Miles George Aldous Lampson, 3rd Baron Killearn. He has issue, including a son and heir apparent.
*
Hon. Jacquetta Jean Frederica Lampson; she married
Peregrine Eliot, 10th Earl of St Germans, and had issue, three sons.
* Hon. Roxana Rose Catherine Naila Lampson. She married Ian Ross, mother of six children, including the musicians
Atticus Ross,
Leopold Ross
Leopold "Leo" Ross is an English musician, record producer, recording engineer and music programmer. Leopold is a guitarist for LA-based band Io Echo. He is best known for his collaborations with his brother Atticus Ross on various film an ...
and the model
Liberty Ross.
Lampson was a close personal friend of Sir
Edward Peel
Edward Peel is an English television and stage actor. He was described by ''The Times'' in 2010 as a "veteran star of TV dramas" and "a familiar face on television for the past 40 years".
Early life and education
Peel trained as an actor at R ...
.
Succession
Lord Killearn died in September 1964, aged 84, and was succeeded in the barony by his son by his first marriage, Graham. As Graham died without male heirs, the title subsequently passed to Lord Killearn's son from his second marriage, Victor.
The 3rd Lord Killearn took legal action in 2011 to prevent his mother selling off the family home,
Haremere Hall.
Arms
See also
*
List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Egypt
*
Egypt in World War II
References
Sources
* ''The Killearn Diaries, 1934–1946'', London: Sidwick and Jackson, 1972.
*
*
Yapp, M.E. (ed.): ''Politics and diplomacy in Egypt: The diaries of Sir Miles Lampson, 1935–1937'', Oxford: Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1997.
* Lord Killearn's Diaries: Custodial history: In the possession of Lord Killearn, the Lampson family, Drs Trefor Evans and David Steeds of the
University of Aberystwyth. Reference code: GB165-0176. Dates of creation: 1926–1951. 8 boxes 25 volumes. Scope and content: 25 MS and TS volumes of diaries, 1926–51, covering his service in China, Egypt and the Sudan, and South-East Asia.
* Cassandra Jardine
"Grande dame is still giving high society plenty of cause for gossip" in: ''The Independent'', Sunday 27 January 2008. Describes the life and times of the Dowager Lady Killearn (née Jacquetta Aldine Leslie Castellani).
* O'Sullivan, Christopher D.: ''FDR and the End of Empire: The Origins of American Power in the Middle East.'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Killearn, Miles Lampson, 1st Baron
1880 births
1964 deaths
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Egypt
High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Egypt
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Diplomatic peers
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Members of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
People educated at Eton College
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class
Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure
Barons created by George VI