Sir Alexander Lees Mayall (14 September 1915 – 27 December 1992) was a British

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who served as Vice-

Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps His Majesty's Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He is the King's link with the diplomatic community in London, arranges the annual diplomatic corps reception by th ...

Biography

Mayall was born in

Atcham Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5 road (Great Britain), A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the villag ...

, Shropshire, the son of Alexander Mayall, of Bealings End,

Woodbridge, Suffolk Woodbridge is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of Ipswich and around north-east of London. In 2011 it had a populat ...

, by his wife Isobel Margaret, daughter of Frederick James Roberts Hendy, Director of Education at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a 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 second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. The Mayall family were minor Lancashire gentry since the late eighteenth century.Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 1747, 'Mayall, formerly of Mossley' After

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, Mayall joined 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 ...

and was promoted to Third Secretary in 1940. He was appointed a

Companion 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 I ...

in 1964 while serving at the British embassy in Lisbon. From 1940 to 1965, he was en poste in British Embassies in Switzerland, Egypt, France, Japan, Portugal and Ethiopia as well as serving stints in the UK. He served as Vice-Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps between 1965 and 1972, and was invested as a

Knight Commander 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 ...

in recognition of his services. In 1973 he was appointed British Ambassador to Venezuela. After he retired to Wiltshire in 1975, he published his memoirs entitled Fireflies in Amber () published by Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd, The Chantry, Wilton, Salisbury. In 1940, Mayall married Renee Eileen, daughter of Sir (Roland) Clive Wallace Burn, K.C.V.O.; they had a daughter, and divorced in 1947. He married secondly, on 24 January 1947, Hon. Mary Hermione Ormsby-Gore, formerly wife of Capt. Robin Francis Campbell, D.S.O., and daughter of

William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech (11 April 1885 – 14 February 1964), was a British Conservative politician and banker. Background Harlech, the son of George Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech, and Lady Margaret Gordon, daught ...

by his wife Lady Beatrice Edith Mildred Gascoyne-Cecil. They had a son and two daughters. Mayall was a friend and neighbour of the writer

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell ...

, featuring regularly in his Journals.Anthony Powell Journals 1982-1986, Heinemann, 1995, p. 300.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayall, Lees 1915 births 1992 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford British diplomats Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order