Sir Robin John Taylor McLaren (14 August 1934 – 20 July 2010Leung, Ambrose (23 July 2010). "OBITUARY – Robin McLaren, 1934–2010: The diplomat who helped smooth a path for Hong Kong's handover", ''South China Morning Post'') was a British diplomat.

Education

Robin McLaren was educated at

Ardingly College Ardingly College () is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school ...

, a boarding

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

for boys (now co-educational), in the village of

Ardingly Ardingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about south of London and east-north-east of the county town of Chic ...

(near

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath ( ) is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, ...

) in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, followed by

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 ...

, and 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 ...

Life and career

McLaren was Chairman of Governors at

, where the McLaren Library is named after him. He served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

from 1953 to 1955, and entered the Foreign Service in 1958. He held a range of diplomatic posts between 1958 and 1994, including being Assistant Private Secretary to Sir Edward Heath between 1963 and 1964. He went on to serve as British Ambassador to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

between 1985 and 1987. He was senior British representative on the

Sino-British Joint Liaison Group Sino-British Joint Liaison Group () or simply Joint Liaison Group was a meeting group formed in 1985 between the Governments of the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China after signing of Sino–British Joint Declaration (''Joint Dec ...

between 1987 and 1989, and British Ambassador to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

between 1991 and 1994. He was made in 1991, having been made CMG in 1982.

Honours

* : **

Knight Commander 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 III ...

(KCMG) – Sir (1991)

References

Sir Robin McLaren
obituary, ''The Telegraph'', 29 July 2010

External links

Interview with Sir Robin John Taylor McLaren

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1996 1934 births 2010 deaths People educated at Ardingly College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of SOAS University of London Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Philippines Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Bachelor Deaths from cancer in England {{UK-diplomat-stub