Sir Robert Wade-Gery (22 April 1929 – 16 February 2015) was a British diplomat who was High Commissioner to India 1982–87.

Biography

Wade-Gery was born in Oxford on 22 April 1929. His father, Theodore Wade-Gery was an ancient historian and fellow of

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

and his mother was Vivian Whitfield, an archaeologist. Wade-Gery was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he achieved a double first class degree. He then passed the examination to become a

Fellow of All Souls All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

1951–58; subsequently he was a "Fifty-Pound Fellow" 1959–73 and a "Two-Year Fellow" 1987–89; he was an Honorary Fellow from 2011 until his death in 2015. On 16 June 1962, he married Sarah Marris and they had two children together. He died, after having a stroke, on 16 February 2015 in Gloucestershire. Wade-Gery was appointed CMG in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

of 1979, knighted KCMG 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 1983 and given the additional knighthood of KCVO in November 1983.

Career

Exempted from national service due to poor eyesight, he joined the

Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

in 1951 and served at

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

as well as posts at the Foreign Office (later the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

). His

posting was during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, including a period where the American Embassy across the road was captured by the Viet Cong and his wife and daughter had to be evacuated. He was Minister at

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

1973–77 and at

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

1977–79, deputy Secretary of the Cabinet 1979–82, and High Commissioner to India 1982–87. He then left the Diplomatic Service and was a director of

Barclays Capital Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

1987–99. He was a member and treasurer (1991–2005) of the

International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is an international research institute or think tank focusing on defence and security issues. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at Arundel House in London. It has offices on four co ...

, and was chairman of the governors of the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

, University of London (1990–1999).

References

WADE-GERY, Sir Robert (Lucian)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Nov 2014
Interview with Sir Robert Wade-Gery
(including biography), British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge

External links

Sir Robert Wade-Gery: Diplomat who as a member of Margaret Thatcher’s war cabinet during the Falklands crisis delivered the order to sink the Belgrano
(full-page obituary), ''The Times'', London, 26 February 2015, page 57
Obituary: Sir Robert Wade-Gery KCMG KCVO, 1929–2015
International Institute for Strategic Studies, 20 February 2015

''The Telegraph'', London, 5 March 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade-Gery, Robert Lucian 1929 births 2015 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford High commissioners of the United Kingdom to India Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Barclays people People associated with SOAS University of London