Peter Edward Ramsbotham, 3rd Viscount Soulbury (8 October 1919 – 9 April 2010) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator.

Early life

Born in London, Ramsbotham was the younger son of

Herwald Ramsbotham Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury (6 March 1887 – 30 January 1971) was a British Conservative politician. He served as a government minister between 1931 and 1941 and served as Governor-General of Ceylon between the years 1949 and 19 ...

, later the 1st Viscount Soulbury. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

. At Oxford he contracted polio in 1938, which left him with a slightly shorter right leg.

World War II

He was already working for

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

as a civilian when he joined the army on the outbreak of the Second World War. In April 1941, Ramsbotham was working in B3 Division of MI5 (Communications) with the task of studying the activities of foreign journalists in the UK. In July he was with B3A (Censorship) before moving to E3 (Alien Control – USA citizens in the UK and other territories). By 1943 he was with E2 Division dealing with nationals from the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

and Central Europe. In June 1943, he left MI5 and was later commissioned into the Intelligence Corps on 9 June 1944. As a fluent speaker in French, he continued to work with MI5 on the

Continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...

as a member of 106 Special Counter Intelligence Unit (SCIU), running double agents and acting as a liaison officer to the

counter-espionage Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting ac ...

section of the French Intelligence Service. He also reported to the '212' Committee', the Allied equivalent of MI5's ' XX Committee' ('Double Cross Committee'). At the close of hostilities, he was employed in the Political Division of the Control Commissions for both Germany and Austria and served also in Hamburg and Berlin. In recognition of his exemplary service during the war, he received a

Mention 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 ...

in August 1945 and was awarded a

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

on 1 March 1949 (en bloc).

Diplomatic Service

In 1948, Ramsbotham joined the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

on the advice of his superior, Sir Christopher Steel. He failed the Foreign Office exam on his first attempt, due to poor mathematical skill, but passed six months later after some coaching. His first position was in the German Department of the Foreign Office in London. His posts included High Commissioner to Cyprus (1969–1971) Ambassador to Iran (1971–1974) and Ambassador to the United States (1974–1977). He had a close relationship with

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, and was the first ambassador Carter invited to the White House. Ramsbotham was removed from his position as Ambassador to the United States by incoming Foreign Secretary

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

. Owen controversially replaced him with Peter Jay, who was economics editor of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', the son-in-law of Prime Minister

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

and Owen's personal friend.

Governor

Ramsbotham's final posting was as

Governor of Bermuda The governor of Bermuda (officially Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)) is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this arti ...

(1977–1980). During his governorship, the two assassins of Sir Richard Sharples, the former governor, were hanged. The executions were followed by extensive rioting, as a result of which troops had to be sent to Bermuda to restore order.

Honours and title

He was appointed Companion (CMG) 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 ...

in 1964, promoted to Knight Commander (KCMG) in 1972, becoming Sir Peter Ramsbotham, and promoted again to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in 1978. In 1976, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross (GCVO) of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

as well as Knight (KStJ) of the Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of Viscount Soulbury from his elder brother in 2004 but continued to be known as Sir Peter Ramsbotham.

Family

His first marriage was to Frances Marie Massie Blomfield. They were married on 30 August 1941 and their marriage ended with her death in 1982. His second marriage was to Dr Zaida Mary Hall, née Megrah, in 1985 (died 17 March 2013). He died in New Alresford, Hampshire on 9 April 2010.

References

*Who's Who 2009 *

External links

Interview with Hon Sir Peter Ramsbotham

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsbotham, Peter 1919 births 2010 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Iran Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States British Army personnel of World War II Deputy lieutenants of Hampshire Governors of Bermuda High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Cyprus Intelligence Corps officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights of the Order of St John MI5 personnel Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) 3 Younger sons of viscounts