Nigel Clive Cosby Trench, 7th Baron Ashtown, (27 October 1916 – 6 March 2010) was a British peer and diplomat. Trench was born in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, the son of Clive Newcome Trench and Kathleen Maud Marion McIvor. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

. After rising to the rank of Major in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

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 ...

, Trench spent some thirty years in the British

foreign service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

, with postings which included Tokyo and Washington, D.C., before serving as British Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (1969–1971) and then to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(1974–1976). In 1990, after his retirement, he inherited the

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

Baron Ashtown Baron Ashtown, of Moate in the County of Galway, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Frederick Trench, with remainder to the heirs male of his father. Trench had previously represented Portarlington from 1798 in th ...

from his cousin Christopher Trench, 6th Baron Ashtown.

Honours

Trench was appointed a Commander 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 I ...

in the

1966 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1966 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

. He was knighted in the same order in the

1976 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 4 June 1976 for ...

Personal life

He married Marcelle Catherine Clotterbooke Patijn van Kloetinge in 1939, with whom he had one son, Roderick Trench, 8th

. He succeeded a cousin as Baron Ashtown in 1990. His wife died in 1994. Lord Ashtown then married Dorothea Mary Elizabeth Minchin (d. 20 December 2019), former wife of Hans Heinrich XVII, 4th Prince of

Pless Pleß or Pless may refer to: Places *Pleß, a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany * Pszczyna (German: Pleß), a town in southern Poland ** Duchy of Pless, a historic territory in Silesia * Pleß (mountain), a mountai ...

, in 1997. He died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2010 and was succeeded as Baron Ashtown by his son, Roderick.

References

* Charles Mosley, editor, ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', 106th edition, 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, page 123. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashtown, Nigel Trench, 7th Baron 1916 births 2010 deaths Military personnel from Hertfordshire People from St Albans Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Portugal Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to South Korea

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published '' The F ...

British Army personnel of World War II Diplomatic peers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George King's Royal Rifle Corps officers People educated at Eton College