Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
Encyclopedia
This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(and its predecessors) since 1790.
Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
or senior civil servants at the Foreign Office.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
(and its predecessors) since 1790.
Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Permanent Under-Secretaries at the Foreign Office, 1790-
These are the Permanent SecretariesPermanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
or senior civil servants at the Foreign Office.
- February 1790: George Aust
- October 1795: George Hammond (resigned 1806)
- March 1807: George Hammond
- October 1809: William Richard HamiltonWilliam Richard HamiltonWilliam Richard Hamilton, FRS, was a British antiquarian, traveller and diplomat. He was son of Rev. Anthony Hamilton, Archdeacon of Colchester and Anne, daughter of Richard Terrick, Bishop of London....
- July 1817: Joseph PlantaJoseph PlantaSir Joseph Planta GCH was a British diplomat and politician of Swiss descent. He was the MP for Hastings, England.Joseph Planta was the son of another Joseph Planta , who moved from Switzerland to England and who became the Principal Librarian of the British Museum in London...
- April 1827: John BackhouseJohn BackhouseSir John Backhouse KB was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1625 to 1629. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....
- 1842: Henry Unwin AddingtonHenry Unwin AddingtonHenry Unwin Addington was a British diplomat and civil servant.-Background:Born at Blounts Court, he was the second son of John Hiley Addington, brother of Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, and his wife Mary, daughter of Henry Unwin...
- 1854: Edmund HammondEdmund Hammond, 1st Baron HammondEdmund Hammond, 1st Baron Hammond PC , was a British diplomat and civil servant. He was Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1854 to 1873.-Background:...
(later Lord Hammond) - 1873: Lord TenterdenCharles Abbott, 3rd Baron TenterdenCharles Stuart Aubrey Abbott, 3rd Baron Tenterden KCB , was a British diplomat.-Biography:Abbott was born in London, the son of Charles Abbott , younger son of Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden. The title passed to the younger Charles on the death of his uncle John Henry Abbott, 2nd Baron Tenterden...
- 1882: Sir Julian PauncefoteJulian Pauncefote, 1st Baron PauncefoteJulian Pauncefote, 1st Baron Pauncefote GCB, GCMG, PC , known as Sir Julian Pauncefote between 1874 and 1899, was a British barrister, judge and diplomat...
(later Lord Pauncefote) - 1889: Sir Philip Currie
- 1894: Sir Thomas Henry Sanderson, 1st Baron SandersonThomas Sanderson, 1st Baron SandersonSir Thomas Henry Sanderson, 1st Baron Sanderson of Armthorpe was born on the 11th January 1841 in Gunton Park, about 6 miles North of Aylsham, in Norfolk.Second son to Richard Sanderson, Member of Parliament for Colchester from 1832 to 1847, and the Hon...
- 1906: Sir Charles HardingeCharles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of PenshurstCharles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916.-Background and education:...
(later Lord Hardinge of Penshurst) - 1910: Sir Arthur NicolsonArthur Nicolson, 1st Baron CarnockArthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock , known as Sir Arthur Nicolson, 11th Baronet, from 1899 to 1916, was a British diplomat and politician through the last quarter of the 19th century to the middle of World War I...
- 1916: Lord Hardinge of PenshurstCharles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of PenshurstCharles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916.-Background and education:...
- 1920: Sir Eyre CroweEyre CroweSir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe GCB GCMG was a British diplomat. Crowe was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1907, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1911, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1917, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St...
- 1925: Sir William TyrrellWilliam George Tyrrell, 1st Baron TyrrellWilliam George Tyrrell, 1st Baron Tyrrell GCB, GCMG, KCVO, PC was a British civil servant and diplomat. He was Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1925 and 1928 and British Ambassador to France from 1928 to 1934.-Background and education:Tyrell, a grandson of an Indian...
- 1928: Sir Ronald LindsayRonald LindsaySir Ronald Charles Lindsay , PC, CVO, GCB, KCMG, was a British civil servant and diplomat.He was born in 1877, the fifth son of James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, and educated at Winchester College....
- 1930: Sir Robert VansittartRobert Vansittart, 1st Baron VansittartRobert Gilbert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart GCB, GCMG, PC, MVO was a senior British diplomat in the period before and during the Second World War...
- 1938: Sir Alexander Cadogan
- 1946: Sir Orme Sargent (jointly with Sir William StrangWilliam Strang, 1st Baron StrangWilliam Strang, 1st Baron Strang, GCMG, KCB, MBE was a British diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1949 to 1953....
, Head of the German Section 1947-1949) - 1949: Sir William StrangWilliam Strang, 1st Baron StrangWilliam Strang, 1st Baron Strang, GCMG, KCB, MBE was a British diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1949 to 1953....
(jointly with the Heads of the German Section: Sir Ivone KirkpatrickIvone KirkpatrickHis Excellency Sir Ivone Augustine Kirkpatrick GCB, GCMG was a British diplomat who served most notably as the British High Commissioner in Germany after the war, and as the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office -Summary:Kirkpatrick left school to join the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers...
1949-1950, Sir D. Gainer 1950-1951) - 1953: Sir Ivone KirkpatrickIvone KirkpatrickHis Excellency Sir Ivone Augustine Kirkpatrick GCB, GCMG was a British diplomat who served most notably as the British High Commissioner in Germany after the war, and as the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office -Summary:Kirkpatrick left school to join the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers...
- 1957: Sir Frederick Hoyer Millar
- 1962: Sir Harold Caccia
- 1965: Sir Paul Gore-BoothPaul Gore-Booth, Baron Gore-BoothPaul Henry Gore-Booth, Baron Gore-Booth, GCMG, KCVO, was a British diplomat. He served in HM Diplomatic Service and in retirement held the following appointments: Director: Grindlays Bank, 1969–79; United Kingdom Provident Institution, 1969–79; Registrar, Order of St Michael and St George,...
(also Head of the Diplomatic Service from 1968; later created Baron Gore-Booth of Maltby) - 1969: Sir Denis Greenhill
- 1973: Sir Thomas Brimelow
- 1975: Sir Michael PalliserMichael PalliserSir Arthur Michael Palliser GCMG is the vice chairman of the Salzburg Seminar's Board of Directors and a former senior British Diplomat....
- 1982: Sir Antony Acland
- 1986: Sir Patrick WrightPatrick Wright, Baron Wright of RichmondPatrick Richard Henry Wright, Baron Wright of Richmond GCMG is a retired British diplomat and former Head of HM Diplomatic Service.-Background:Patrick Wright, the son of Herbert and Rachel Wright, was educated at Marlborough College...
(later Lord Wright of Richmond) - 1991: Sir David GillmoreDavid GillmoreDavid Howe Gillmore, Baron Gillmore of Thamesfield, GCMG was a British diplomat. He retired in 1994 after a distinguished diplomatic career in which he was a leading light in John Major's extrication of the UK from its policy of confronting apartheid South Africa.He educated at Trent...
(later Lord Gillmore of Thamesfield) - 1994: Sir John ColesJohn Coles (diplomat)Sir Arthur "John" Coles, GCMG is a retired British diplomat. He served as the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1994-1997.- Offices held :-References:...
- 1997: Sir John KerrJohn Kerr, Baron Kerr of KinlochardJohn Olav Kerr, Baron Kerr of Kinlochard GCMG , a former diplomat, is Deputy Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and an independent member of the House of Lords.-Background and education:...
(later Lord Kerr of Kinlochard) - 2002: Sir Michael JayMichael Jay, Baron Jay of EwelmeMichael Hastings Jay, Baron Jay of Ewelme, GCMG is a former British diplomat and is currently Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.-Education:...
(later Lord Jay of Ewelme) - 2006: Sir Peter RickettsPeter RickettsSir Peter Forbes Ricketts, GCMG is a senior British diplomat who currently serves as National Security Adviser to HM Government...
- 2010: Simon FraserSimon Fraser (civil servant)Simon James Fraser CMG is a British civil servant, who currently serves as the Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, having served as Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from May 2009 to August 2010.Fraser was educated at St. Paul's...