Sir Thomas Beaumont Hohler (15 March 1871 – 23 April 1946) was a 20th-century British diplomat.

Background and education

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the sixth and youngest son of Henry Booth Hohler (1835–1916), High Sheriff of Kent (for 1901/02) by his wife Henrietta Wilhelmina Lawes, his elder brother was politician and barrister Sir Gerald Hohler . Hohler was educated at Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, before entering

HM Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

in 1894.

Career

Appointed Second Secretary in 1901, then First Secretary in 1908 to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, Hohler was posted to Mexico in 1910 and promoted Counsellor (1915) then

Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

(1918). Serving at

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was involved in the interception of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Zimmermann Telegram used to promote the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

entry into the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. Although acting anonymously at the time, he later identified himself as the mysterious "Mr. H" responsible for intercepting the inflammatory telegram. In 1920, Hohler was appointed High Commissioner to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, where he made a bold effort to convince the British Government to revise the terms of the Trianon Treaty to better favor

. Then head of HBM Commercial Legation to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, Sir Thomas served in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

(1924–28) before becoming British Minister to Denmark (1928–1933). In 1942 his ''Diplomatic Petrel'' was published. Appointed in 1934 a Justice of the Peace for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, Sir Thomas was seated at Fawkham Manor where he died in 1946, aged 75.

Family

Hohler in 1922 married Cynthia Elizabeth Violet Astell (1893–1966), younger daughter of William Harvey Astell and

the Hon. ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

Elizabeth Maria Vereker, a descendant of the Schuyler, Van Cortlandt and Delancey families from colonial

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

. Sir Thomas and Lady Hohler had two children: *Gerald Arthur Hohler (1923–2014), married Margaret Stucley, eldest daughter of Sir Dennis Stucley, having two daughters and a son: Thomas Edward Hohler (married Georgina Stourton). *Anne Elizabeth Hohler (1935–1981), married David Kingston.Descendants of William the Conqueror
Accessed February 14, 2015

Honours

* KCMG (1924) * Order of the Bath UK ribbon

CB (1916) * Order of the Dannebrog S

Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark) * CHI Orden al Merito de Chile Gran Oficial BAR

Order of Merit (Chile) The Order of Merit () is a Chilean order of merit and was created in 1929. Succeeding the Medal of the Merit, which was created during the term of the President Germán Riesco through the Minister of War decree No. 1350 on 4 September 1906. This ...

References

Sources

A Case Study on Trianon
*''

Burke's Landed Gentry ''Burke's Landed Gentry'' (originally titled ''Burke's Commoners'') is a reference work listing families in Great Britain and Ireland who have owned rural estates of some size. The work has been in existence from the first half of the 19th cen ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hohler, Thomas Beaumont 1871 births 1946 deaths People from Kent People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George English justices of the peace Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Denmark Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog