Aretas Akers-Douglas, 2nd Viscount Chilston GCMG

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

, PC (17 February 1876-25 July 1947), was a British diplomat. He was Ambassador to the Soviet Union between 1933 and 1938.

Background and education

Chilston was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, the son of Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston

Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston

Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston GBE PC , born Aretas Akers and known as Aretas Akers-Douglas between 1875 and 1911, was a British Conservative statesman and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until he was raised to the peerage in 1911...

, and Adeline Mary, daughter of Horatio Austen-Smith. He was educated at Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

. His country house at Chilston Park

Chilston Park

Chilston Park is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. Started in the 15th century, the house has been modified many times and is a Grade I listed building, currently operated as a country house hotel.-History:...

, Boughton Malherbe

Boughton Malherbe

For other "Boughtons" in Kent see Boughton under Blean; Boughton Malherbe; and Boughton MonchelseaBoughton Malherbe is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone district of Kent, England, situated between Maidstone and Ashford...

, Kent was the source of the title.

Diplomatic career

Chilston entered the Diplomatic Service in 1898 and held minor positions before being appointed Ambassador to Austria in 1921, a post he held until 1928. He then served as Ambassador to Hungary between 1928 and 1933 and as Ambassador to the Soviet Union between 1933 and 1938. He was appointed a CMG in 1918, a KCMG in 1927 and a GCMG

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

 in 1935 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1939.

Family

Lord Chilston married Amy, daughter of Major John Robert Jennings-Bramly, in 1903. They had two sons, of whom the eldest, the Hon. Aretas, was killed in a motor accident in 1940. Lord Chilston died in July 1947, aged 71, and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his second and only surviving son, Eric. Lady Chilston died in August 1962.

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