Sir Herbert Stanley Marchant KCMG

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(18 May 1906 – 8 August 1990) was a schoolmaster, at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

the

codebreaking Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic secu ...

centre in World War II, and then a diplomat. He was ambassador to Cuba (1960–63) and Tunisia (1963–66); remembered for replying to British newspapers during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

that “Everything is perfectly quiet here” (in Cuba). Marchant was born in Cambridge and attended

Perse School The Perse School is a private school (English fee-charging day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1615 by Stephen Perse, its motto is ''Qui facit per alium facit per se'', taken to mea ...

, before studying modern languages at

St John’s College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

. He was an assistant master at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

1928–39, teaching French and German, and later Russian. He was at

in World War II, where he was the deputy head of

Hut 3 Hut 3 was a section of the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park during World War II. It retained the name for its functions when it moved into Block D. It produced military intelligence codenamed Ultra from the decrypts of Eni ...

from 1943 until the end of the war. The head Eric Jones had taken over sole responsibility from 1942, after personal rivalries between the original staff of Hut 3.Briggs (2011) p 9, 76, 91-92, 136 After the war he was in the Foreign Service 1946–66. Then he became Assistant Director of the

Institute of Race Relations The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a think tank based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1958 in order to publish research on race relations worldwide, and in 1972 was transformed into an "anti-racist think tank". Proposed by ''Sund ...

1966–68, and United Kingdom representative on the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 1969–73. He married Diana Selway in 1937, they had one son. He was awarded the

1946, CMG 1957 & KCMG 1963.

Books by H.S. Marchant

*Scratch a Russian (Drummond, London, 1937) Travel in the Soviet Union *His Excellency Regrets (Kimber, London, 1980) a novel

References

*Obituary in ''The Times'', London of 13 August 1990 page 12. *''Secret Days: Code-breaking in Bletchley Park'' by

Asa Briggs Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his lon ...

(2011, Frontline Books, London) *Who’s Who 2013 (London) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchant, Herbert 1906 births 1990 deaths Bletchley Park people Members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Tunisia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Cuba Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People educated at The Perse School Schoolteachers from Cambridgeshire English travel writers Writers about the Soviet Union British officials of the United Nations Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire Teachers at Harrow School