John Henniker-Major, 8th Baron Henniker
Sir Roderick Parkes | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 February 1916 |
| Died | 29 April 2004 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | Second World War |
John Patrick Edward Chandos Henniker-Major, 8th Baron Henniker CVO MC (19 February 1916 – 29 April 2004), known as Sir John Henniker-Major from 1965 to 1980, was a British peer, civil servant, and diplomat.
Early life and military service
Henniker was the eldest son of John Ernest de Grey Henniker-Major, 7th Baron Henniker, and Molly Burnet. He was educated at
Macmis) whilst on secondment to the Special Operations Executive and appointed as a British Liaison Officer (BLO) to Koča Popović, the most prominent Partisan commander. In August 1944, the three men agreed the scope and tactics of the Operation Ratweek in central Serbia, which severely damaged German ambitions to withdraw troops from Greece and the southern Balkans. In 1945 he was awarded the Military Cross.[1]
Diplomatic and later career
After the war he returned to the diplomatic service and served at the British Embassy in
Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin from 1946 to 1948, at the Foreign Office from 1948 to 1950 and at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires from 1950 to 1952. From 1953 to 1960 he was Head of the Personnel Department at the Foreign Office.[1]
In 1960 Henniker was appointed
Ambassador to Denmark from 1962 to 1966. He served as Assistant Under-Secretary of State from 1966 to 1967 but declined the ambassadorships to Brazil and the Republic of Ireland as he wanted to stay in England. In 1968 he became Director-General of the British Council, which he remained until 1972, before being invited to resign by Lord Fulton on the pretext of his wife's failing health. Henniker devoted the later part of his life to charitable causes, especially in Suffolk where his family had their ancestral seat. In 1980 he succeeded as eighth Baron Henniker on the death of his 97-year-old father and assumed his seat in the House of Lords. In the Lords, he briefly served as a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats.[2] He was made a CMG in 1956, a CVO in 1960 and knighted a KCMG in 1965 New Year Honours.[1]
Family
John Henniker-Major married Osla Benning in 1946. They had three children:
- Mark Ian Philip Chandos Henniker-Major, 9th Baron Henniker (born 29 September 1947), married Lesley Antoinette Foskett
- Hon. Charles John Giles Henniker-Major (2 September 1949 – 9 May 2012), married Sally Kemp Newby
- Hon. Jane Elizabeth Henniker-Major (born 6 July 1954), married Richard Spring, Baron Risby
After his first wife's death in 1974 he married Julia Poland (née Mason) in 1976. He died in April 2004, aged 88, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Mark.[1]
Arms
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Notes
References
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, [page needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [better source needed]
- The Independent Obituary[permanent dead link]
- Daily Telegraph Obituary
