Martin Stanley Buckmaster, 3rd Viscount Buckmaster (11 April 1921 – 8 June 2007) was a British diplomat. He sat on the crossbenches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

from 1974. Buckmaster was the elder son of

Owen Buckmaster, 2nd Viscount Buckmaster Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

, a barrister and

Lloyd's Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

underwriter Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liabili ...

, and his first wife, Joan Simpson. His grandfather was

Stanley Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster Stanley Owen Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster, (9 January 1861 – 5 December 1934) was a British lawyer and Liberal Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for most of the years from 1906 to 1915, when he was elevated to the pe ...

, a barrister and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP who served as

Solicitor General for England and Wales His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to ad ...

from 1913 to 1915 and was created 1st Viscount Buckmaster in 1915 when he became

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. T ...

. Buckmaster was educated at

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

. On the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he joined the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot ...

straight from school. After receiving his commission in August 1940 he served in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and was granted the honorary rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

when he relinquished his commission in June 1953. Buckmaster was demobilised in 1946 and 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 S ...

, using his experience of the Middle East to good effect. He was a political officer in Abu Dhabi from 1955 to 1958, and then First Secretary at the British embassy in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

until 1963. After serving in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, he moved to

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and ...

to become First Secretary in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

from 1969 to 1971. He later served in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

, retiring in 1981. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

1979 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1979 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

. He became

Viscount Buckmaster Viscount Buckmaster, of Cheddington in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1933 for the lawyer and Liberal politician and former Lord Chancellor, Stanley Buckmaster, 1st Baron Buckmaster. ...

on his father's death in 1974, his father having inherited the title in 1934. He took a seat on the crossbenches in the

, speaking mainly on matters relating to the Middle East. He was vice-chairman of the

Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding The Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), is a not-for-profit organisation that works for a British Middle East policy rooted in support for international law, human rights and civil society. Since it was founded in 1967, Caabu has taken ...

. A committed Christian, he also spoke on issues of public morality. He was a member of the Conservative Family Campaign, and a patron of the

Christian Broadcasting Council Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

. He was succeeded to the viscountcy by his nephew, Adrian Buckmaster, son of his younger brother, Hon. Colin John Buckmaster.

References

Viscount Buckmaster
obituary, ''The Telegraph'', London, 14 June 2007

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckmaster, Martin Buckmaster, 3rd Viscount British diplomats Diplomatic peers British Army personnel of World War II Royal Sussex Regiment officers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People educated at Stowe School 1921 births 2007 deaths British expatriates in the United Arab Emirates British expatriates in Libya British expatriates in Bahrain British expatriates in Uganda British expatriates in Lebanon British expatriates in Yemen Hereditary peers removed under the House of Lords Act 1999