The Rt Hon. Milo John Reginald Talbot, 7th Baron Talbot of Malahide and 4th Baron Talbot de Malahide, (1 December 1912 – 14 April 1973), was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

aristocrat, British diplomat, and accomplished Irish botanist and horticulturist. When using his title, he was usually known as Lord Talbot of Malahide. He had succeeded to the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

in 1948.

Early life

Talbot was the son of Eva Joicey and Col. Milo George Talbot, fourth son of the 4th Baron Talbot of Malahide. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, and entered

His Majesty's 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 ...

in 1937. According to the Malahide Heritage Society webpage: "much of Milo’s career during the 1940s and early 50s is shrouded in mystery and rumour". While at Cambridge,

Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet double agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection ...

had been his history tutor and

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

was also reported to have tutored him.

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring that had divulged British secr ...

and Donald Maclean were also at Cambridge around this time, but it is not known if Milo knew him. Milo is thought to have worked in the Secret Service for some years during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and to have encountered some of these men in 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 ...

and in diplomatic postings abroad, especially at

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

in Turkey. In the course of Milo’s time at the Foreign Office during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Burgess and Maclean defected to the Russians after Philby alerted them to the fact that they were under suspicion. Milo retired in 1956 aged 45. Philby subsequently defected as well, and was to be followed by Blunt who was exposed as a double agent. Blunt had been a regular guest of Milo at

Malahide Castle Malahide Castle (), parts of which date to the 12th century, lies close to the village of Malahide, 14 km (nine miles) north of central Dublin in Ireland. It has over of remaining parkland estate, forming the Malahide Demesne Regional P ...

Diplomatic career

In 1954, Lord Talbot of Malahide was appointed

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

to the newly independent

Kingdom of Laos The Kingdom of Laos was the form of government in Laos from 1947 to 1975. Located in Southeast Asia at the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, it was bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, North Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the sou ...

, which had formerly been part of

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

. The post was upgraded to that of ambassador the following year. He remained in the post until 1956, when he was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG).

Personal life

A keen gardener, Lord Talbot of Malahide commissioned and sponsored the book '' The Endemic Flora of Tasmania''. Lord Talbot of Malahide was undoubtedly the most knowledgeable Irish gardener of his time. The gardens of Malahide Castle were largely created between 1942 and 1973 by Talbot. In all, there are in excess of 5,000 different species and varieties of plants present, some of which Talbot brought back from his travels in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. Milo succeeded his cousin, James Talbot, in the

in 1948, and inherited Malahide Castle and Estate at which he enhanced the gardens. A monkish and aloof homosexual bachelor, 'The viet spy mystery of castle's last lord' (''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'', 2 September 2012). https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/the-soviet-spy-mystery-of-the-castles-last-lord/26893482.html in Australia he met Tony Scotland, a young television reporter, 35 years his junior, whom he mentored and failed to seduce, but whose own homosexuality he attempted to cure, fearing it would make the young man as lonely as he was. Scotland eventually rejected such efforts.Simon Heffer, Was the last Lord Talbot de Malahide really a Soviet spy?', ''Telegraph'', 4 November 2024 Lord Talbot of Malahide died suddenly in April 1973, aged 60, whilst cruising with a friend in the Aegean. The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

barony of Talbot de Malahide died with him. He was succeeded in the Irish barony of Talbot of Malahide by his kinsman, Reginald Talbot. The castle and gardens were inherited by his sister,

The Hon. ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

Rose Maud Talbot, who burnt all his private papers, 'The viet spy mystery of castle's last lord' (''

'', 2 September 2012). https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/the-soviet-spy-mystery-of-the-castles-last-lord/26893482.html and had to sell valuables so that the estate could be ceded to the Irish State (in order to offset inheritance taxes), and specifically was vested in the former Dublin County Council. The walled botanical gardens and glasshouses, containing Lord Talbot of Malahide's remarkable collection of Southern hemisphere and other plants, were also restored and conserved. There are guided tours of the castle daily and visitors stroll at their leisure through the wonderful gardens. The Castle and 260 acre

Demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

now falls within the Fingal County Council parks department, and is managed by an outside contractor with a popular Avoca restaurant and boutique shops. The grounds consist of a public park area and public sports fields.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot of Malahide, Milo Talbot, 7th Baron 1912 births 1973 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Laos Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Burials at St. Andrew's Church, Graveyard, Malahide

Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Milo (magazine), ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine * ''Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * Milo (video game), ''Milo'' (video game) * Milo ( ...