Sir Arthur John Wilton (21 October 1921 – 12 June 2011), known as John Wilton, was a British diplomat who was Ambassador to Kuwait (1970–1974) and to Saudi Arabia (1976–1979). Wilton was born on 21 October 1921, the son of Walter and Annetta Wilton. He was educated at

Wanstead High School Wanstead High School (WHS), formerly Wanstead County High School, is a co-educational, non-denominational, comprehensive secondary school in Wanstead, London, United Kingdom. Admissions It specialises in the performing arts and has 1532 pup ...

, winning an Open Scholarship to

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

in 1940. In 1942 he was commissioned into the

Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an light infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal ...

, and served with the Irish Brigade in North Africa, Italy and Austria between 1943 and 1946. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

and was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. He was awarded a War-time MA (first class Honours) from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

on the basis of the time spent at Oxford and on war service. He entered HM Diplomatic Service in 1947, with postings in Lebanon, Egypt, Gulf Shaikdoms (including the post of the first Political Officer resident in Doha, Qatar, August 1949 – July 1950), Yugoslavia and Roumania. He was Director of the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies in Lebanon from 1960 to 1965, Deputy High Commissioner in Aden 1966–1967, Ambassador to Kuwait 1970–1974, Assistant Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1974–1976, and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia 1976–1979. He was also Director of the London House for Overseas Graduates 1979–1986 and Chairman of the Arab-British Centre 1981–1986. After he retired to Devon, he was President of the Plymouth branch of the

English Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organisation headquartered in London, England. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages ...

(from 1991) and a Trustee of the Arab-British Chamber Charitable Foundation (from 1989), churchwarden of St. Maurice's Church, Plympton, Devon and chairman of the charity Call South West. He was awarded an Honorary LLD in 1986 by

New England College New England College (NEC) is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, New Hampshire. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of fall 2020, the college enrolled 4,327 students (1,776 undergraduate and 2,551 grad ...

, New Hampshire, USA. Wilton died suddenly on 12 June 2011, aged 89. He was survived by his wife of 60 years, Maureen, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.Lady Wilton died in 2019.

References

* * 1921 births 2011 deaths Royal Ulster Rifles officers British Army personnel of World War II Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Kuwait Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Military Cross Members of HM Diplomatic Service British expatriates in Australia British expatriates in Italy British expatriates in Lebanon British expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in Qatar British expatriates in Yugoslavia British expatriates in Romania 20th-century British diplomats {{UK-diplomat-stub