Sir Geoffrey Holt Seymour Jackson (4 March 1915 – 1 October 1987) was a British diplomat and writer. In 1971, during his tenure as British ambassador to Uruguay, he was kidnapped by the

Tupamaros The National Liberation Movement – Tupamaros (, MLN-T) was a Marxist–Leninist urban guerrilla group that operated in Uruguay during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1989, the group was admitted into the Broad Front and a large number of its membe ...

guerrillas and ultimately released after eight months of captivity.

Background and earlier career

Jackson received his education at

Bolton School Bolton School is a private day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery (ages 0–4), co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

. He entered the Foreign Service in 1937 and served in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

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Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

and

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before being appointed Minister to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

in 1956. The next year he was promoted to ambassador when the post was upgraded. He was

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

for the north-western US states 1960–1964 and Minister (Commercial) in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

1965–1969.

HM Ambassador to Uruguay

In 1969 he became ambassador in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. He was kidnapped by Tupamaros guerrillas in 1971, enduring a captivity of nine months. Released in September 1971, he retired at the end of 1972 with the honorary rank of Deputy

Under-Secretary of State Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

, having served for 35 years in the diplomatic service, of which 31 had been spent abroad.

Kidnapping

Jackson was kidnapped by

guerrillas on 8 January 1971 in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay. He was released after eight months of captivity, on 9 September 1971. Three decades later it became known that

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

, the UK Prime Minister at that time, negotiated a deal for Jackson's release, brokered by

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

, President of Chile, who was in contact with the Tupamaros rebels. £42,000 was paid for Jackson's release.

Later life

He served for five years, 1976–80, on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's General Advisory Council (abolished in the 1990s) and was chairman of a BBC advisory group on the social effects of television.

Honours

Geoffrey Jackson was appointed CMG in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1963 and knighted KCMG in 1971 after his release from captivity.

Books

* * * *

References

JACKSON, Sir Geoffrey (Holt Seymour)
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 *

Notes

External links

The Papers of Sir Geoffrey Jackson
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers ...

BBC – Desert Island Discs – Castaway : Sir Geoffrey Jackson
8 April 1972, with photo {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Geoffrey Holt Seymour 1915 births 1970 crimes in Uruguay 1987 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Uruguay Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Honduras BBC people British writers Kidnapped British people Kidnapped diplomats Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Bolton School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Terrorism in Uruguay