News

Have a look at our newest interviews for the BDOHP, as well as some recent publications by our interviewees.  In this space we also include some older interviews with those who are sadly no longer with us.

Latest interviews:

THOMSETT, Heather (née Auchterlonie, b. 1924)
Interview with Heather Thomsett on her work in the Foreign Secretary’s Private Office from 1943 to 1947.
Interviewed 2024
DOHP 240

Heather Thomsett

 

CULSHAW, Robert, MVO (b. 1952)
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1974–75; MECAS, Lebanon and Jordan, 1975–77; 3rd Secretary, Muscat, 1977–79; 2nd Secretary, Khartoum, 1979–80; 1st Secretary, Rome, 1980–84; FCO, 1984–88; Head of Chancery, 1988–90, Deputy Head of Mission and Consul-General, 1991–93, Athens; FCO Spokesman and Head of News Department, 1993–95; Minister-Counsellor, Washington, 1995–99; Consul-General, Chicago, 1999–2003; Director, Americas and Overseas Territories, FCO, 2003–05.  Deputy Director, British Antarctic Survey, 2006–12.
Interviewed 2023-24
DOHP 239

Head and shoulders photo of Robert Culshaw, wearing a blue open necked shirt

Robert Culshaw

 

HUM, Sir Christopher, KCMG (b. 1946)
Hum joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1967, and his diplomatic career included: Hong Kong, 1968–70; Peking, 1971–73; Office of the UK Permanent Representative to the EEC, Brussels, 1973–75; FCO, 1975–79; Peking, 1979–81; Paris, 1981–83; Assistant Head, Hong Kong Department, FCO, 1983–85; Counsellor, 1985; Deputy Head, Falkland Islands Department, FCO, 1985–86; Head, Hong Kong Department, FCO, 1986–89; Counsellor (Political) and Head of Chancery, UK Mission to UN, New York, 1989–92; Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Northern Asia), 1993–94, (Northern Asia and Pacific), 1994–95; Ambassador to Poland, 1996–98; Deputy Under-Secretary of State and Chief Clerk, FCO, 1998–2001; Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, 2002–05.
Interviewed 2023-24
DOHP 238

Colour head and shoulders photo of Sir Christopher Hum, wearing glasses and a light shirt

Sir Christopher Hum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRISTOW, Sir Laurence, KCMG (b. 1963)
Entered Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1990; Second Secretary, Bucharest, 1992–95; First Secretary: FCO, 1995–99; Ankara, 1999–2002; NATO Defence College, Rome, 2002–03; FCO, 2003; Ambassador to Azerbaijan, 2004–07; Deputy Head of Mission, Moscow, 2007–10; Director, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, FCO, 2010–12; Director, National Security, FCO, 2012–15; Ambassador to Russia, 2016–20; UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties Regional Ambassador to Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and China, 2020; Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 2021.
Interviewed 2023
DOHP 237

Colour photo of Sir Laurie Bristow in front of a plane at Afghanistan airport

Sir Laurence Bristow in Afghanistan

 

FERGUSSON, George (b. 1955)
Joined Northern Ireland Office, 1978; seconded to Northern Ireland Department of Commerce, 1979–80; Private Secretary to Minister of State for Northern Ireland, 1982–83; First Secretary, Dublin, 1988–91; joined Diplomatic Service, 1990; Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1991–93; First Secretary, Seoul, 1994–96; FCO, 1996–99; Head: Republic of Ireland Department, 1997–99; Devolved Administrations Department, 1999; Consul General, Boston, 1999–2003; Counsellor, Cabinet Office, 2003–06; High Commissioner, New Zealand, Governor (non-resident) of Pitcairn, and High Commissioner (non-resident), Samoa, 2006–10; FCO, 2010–12; Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda, 2012–16.
Interviewed 2024
DOHP 236

Colour head and shoulders photo of George Fergusson

George Fergusson

 

HUMFREY, Charles, CMG (b. 1947)
Humfrey joined the Diplomatic Service in 1969, and his career included: Tokyo, 1971–76; South East Asian Department, FCO, 1976–79; Private Secretary to Minister of State, 1979–81; UK Mission, New York, 1981–85; Southern African Department, FCO, 1985–87; Counsellor, Ankara, 1988–90; Counsellor (Economic), Tokyo, 1990–94; Head of African Department (Southern), FCO, 1994–95; Minister, Tokyo, 1995–99; Ambassador, Republic of Korea, 2000–03; Ambassador, Republic of Indonesia, 2004–08.
Interviewed 2024.
DOHP 235

Head and shoulders colour photo of Charles Humfrey, in a striped shirt and tie

Charles Humfrey

 

 

 

 

Further reading

The BDOHP recommends the following books which have been published recently by some of the subjects in the archive:

Laurie Bristow – Kabul:  The Final Call

The inside story of the withdrawal from Afghanistan August 2021. Laurie Bristow, the last British Ambassador to Afghanistan and one of the last civilians to leave in August 2021 gives a dramatic day-by-day account of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021, the events that led to it and the chaotic evacuation.

 

Juliet Campbell – Playing Britannia

Juliet Campbell was one of the first women to make a career in the British Diplomatic Service, and she is the first of the pioneering women Ambassadors to write a memoir. Specialising in European Affairs for much of her career, both in London and abroad, she also served in Thailand, Laos and Indonesia. On leaving the Diplomatic Service Juliet became Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, another new world to explore.   In Playing Britannia Juliet draws on diaries and letters to her parents, which are full of observation, analysis and colourful – often comic – detail.

 

Simon McDonald – Leadership:  Lessons in the Life of Diplomacy

In his first book, Simon reflects on the leaders he worked for, especially in the first half of his career, and how they affected his leadership style, especially in the second half of his career.  Role models were important, even when there was no formal mentoring relationship; it helped to work for strong leaders before working for weaker ones, but these too had important lessons.

 

Peter Ricketts – Hard Choices

In Hard Choices, Peter Ricketts draws on his experiences during forty years as a member of the British Diplomatic Service to explore how the country should define its future in an increasingly divided and unpredictable world. He charts the vital role played by Britain’s statesmen and diplomats in shaping the post-war international order, and argues that the surest way to future stability and prosperity is for the country to play a leading role in sustaining international cooperation and the rule of law.

 

Stephen Wall – “Reluctant European”

Stephen Wall, Reluctant European: Britain and the European Union from 1945 to
Brexit  (Oxford University Press, 2020)

In 2016, the voters of the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union. The majority for ‘Leave’ was small. Yet, in more than 40 years of EU membership, the British had never been wholeheartedly content. In the 1950s, governments preferred the Commonwealth to the Common Market. In the 1960s, successive Conservative and Labour administrations applied to join the European Community because it was a surprising success, whilst the UK’s post-war policies had failed. But the British were turned down by the French. When the UK did join, more than 10 years after first asking, it joined a club whose rules had been made by others and which it did not much like. At one time or another, Labour and Conservative were at war with each other and internally. In 1975, the Labour government held a referendum on whether the UK should stay in. Two thirds of voters decided to do so. But the wounds did not heal. Europe remained ‘them’, not ‘us’. The UK was on the front foot in proposing reform and modernisation and on the back foot as other EU members wanted to advance to ‘ever closer union’.

As a British diplomat from 1968, Stephen Wall observed and participated in these unfolding events and negotiations. He worked for many of the British politicians who wrestled to reconcile the UK’s national interest in making a success of our membership with the sceptical, even hostile, strands of opinion in parliament, the press and public opinion. This book tells the story of a relationship rooted in a thousand years of British history, and of our sense of national identity in conflict with our political and economic need for partnership with continental Europe.

From Andrew Rawnsley’s review in the Guardian, 20 September 2020:

‘Wall tells this sad tale with authority, expertise and a gift for lucid explanations of complex issues and convoluted negotiations.’

 

Peter Westmacott – “They Call It Diplomacy”

Sir Peter Westmacott’s forty-year career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office straddled the last decade of the Cold War and the age of globalization, included spells in pre-revolutionary Iran and the European Commission in Brussels, and culminated in prestigious ambassadorial postings in Ankara, Paris and Washington in the post-9/11 era.

As well as offering an engaging account of life in the upper echelons of the diplomatic and political worlds, and often revealing portraits of global leaders, They Call It Diplomacy mounts a vigorous defence of the continuing relevance of the diplomat in an age of instant communication, social media and special envoys; details what its author sees as some of the successes of recent British diplomacy; offers trenchant views on the Brexit referendum and its aftermath; and considers how Britain can continue to make a difference in the wider world now that it has left the European Union.

 

 

 

In memoriam

RENWICK, Rt Hon Lord (Robin), KCMG (1937-2024)
Diplomat. Entered Foreign Service, 1963; Dakar, 1963-64; FO, 1964-66; New Delhi, 1966-69; Private Secretary to Minister of State, FCO, 1970-72; First Secretary, Paris, 1972-76; Counsellor, Cabinet Office, 1976-78; Rhodesia Department, FCO, 1978-80; Political Adviser to Governor of Rhodesia, 1980; Visiting Fellow, Center for International Affairs, Harvard, 1980-81; Head of Chancery, Washington, 1981-84; Assistant Under Secretary of State, FCO, 1984-87; Ambassador to South Africa, 1987-91; Ambassador to Washington, 1991-95.
Interviewed 1998.

 

JAY, The Hon Peter (1937-2024)
Writer, broadcaster and diplomat. Assistant Principal and Principal, Treasury, 1964-67; Economics Editor, the Times, 1967-77; Ambassador to United States, 1977-79; Director, Economist Intelligence Unit, 1979-83; President, TV-am, 1983-; Presenter, A Week in Politics, Channel 4, 1983-86; and Economics Editor, BBC, 1990-2001.
Interviewed 2006.

 

HALL, Sir Peter Edward, KBE CMG (1938-2024)
Diplomat. Foreign Office, 1961-63; 3rd Secretary, Warsaw, 1963-66; 2nd Secretary, New Delhi, 1966-69; Foreign and Commonwealth Office (European Integration Department), 1969-72; 1st Secretary, UK Permanent Representation to EEC, 1972-76; Assistant Head, Financial Relations Department, FCO, 1976-77; Counsellor, Caracas, 1977-78; Head of British Information Services, New York, 1978-83 and Counsellor, British Embassy, Washington, 1981-83; Director of Research, FCO, 1983-86; Under Secretary, Cabinet Office, 1986-88; Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, 1988-89; Ambassador to Yugoslavia, 1989-92; Adviser to Lord Carrington, 1992, Lord Owen, 1992-93, Peace Conference on Yugoslavia; Ambassador to Argentina, 1993-97.
Interviewed 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HENNESSY, Sir James, KBE CMG (1923-2024)
Appointed to Overseas Service, Basutoland, District Officer, 1948; Judicial Commissioner, 1953; District Commissioner, 1954–56; Joint Secretary, Constitutional Commission, 1957–59; Supervisor of Elections, 1959; Secretary to Executive Council, 1960; seconded to Office of High Commissioner, Cape Town/Pretoria, 1961–63; Permanent Secretary for local government, 1964; MLC, 1965; Secretary for External Affairs, Defence and Internal Security, 1967; Prime Minister’s Office, 1968. Retired, later appointed to Diplomatic Service: Foreign Office, 1968–70; Chargé d’Affaires, Montevideo, 1971–72; High Commissioner to Uganda and Ambassador (non-resident), Rwanda, 1973–76; Consul-General, Cape Town, 1977–80; Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Belize, 1980–81.
Interviewed 2018

 

BEAMISH, Sir Adrian John, KCMG (1939-2024)
Joined the Diplomatic Service in 1962: Third, later Second Secretary, Tehran, 1963–66; Foreign Office, 1966–69; First Secretary, UK Delegation, OECD, Paris, 1970–73; New Delhi, 1973–76; Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1976–78; Counsellor, Personnel Operations Department, FCO, 1978–80; Counsellor (Economic), Bonn, 1981–85; Head, Falkland Islands Department, FCO, 1985–87; Ambassador to Peru, 1987–89; Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Americas), FCO, 1989–94; Ambassador to Mexico, 1994–99.
Interviewed 2019.