Frederick Warner (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Sir Frederick Archibald Warner, GCVO
, KCMG
(2 May 1918 – 30 September 1995) was British
diplomat and businessman who at the end of his career was elected to the European Parliament
.
in Wixenford
, and the Royal Naval College
in Dartmouth, Devon
. He then went to Magdalen College
, Oxford
and also studied at the University of Sheffield
.
during the Second World War, Warner joined the Foreign Office
in February 1946 as an Assistant Principal. Within a few months he had transferred to the Diplomatic Service as a Second Secretary. In 1950 Warner was promoted to First Secretary and posted to the British Embassy in Moscow
.
Warner returned to a London posting at the end of 1951. He was working in the private office of Hector McNeil
with Guy Burgess
at the time of Burgess' defection to the Soviet Union
; Burgess' wayward behaviour at the time later led to accusations that Warner should have raised concerns about him. These accusations stalled Warner's career briefly: he remained in London for five years before in 1956 he was made acting Chargé d'affaires
at the embassy in Rangoon, Burma
. From 1958 he was transferred to Athens
, Greece
. In 1960 Warner was made Head of the South-East Asia Department of the Foreign Office.
from 1965 to 1967, and then served as Minister to NATO throughout 1968. A brief return to London as Under-Secretary of State at the (newly-merged) Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1969 was followed by the role of Ambassador and Deputy Permanent United Kingdom Representative to the United Nations
.
in 1971, Simone Georgina de Ferranti (Née Nangle), who gave him a stepdaughter and two sons of his own, one of whom is TV chef Valentine Warner
. At the end of that year he was named as Ambassador to Japan and learned Japanese
at the University of Sheffield
. He made the arrangements for the visit of Edward Heath
to Japan, the first such visit by a sitting British Prime Minister. Despite Warner's unstuffiness (which ruffled some feathers among the Japanese civil servants who expected more formality), he became popular and was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun
, 1st Class.
At the end of his posting Warner hoped for a top flight post, conceivably even as Ambassador to Paris or to Washington. He was disappointed when others were named to these posts, and Warner retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1975, reasoning that it would be easier for him to start a second career as early as possible.
Ltd. He later picked up directorships of the Mercantile and General Reinsurance Company Ltd, Chloride Group
Ltd, Guinness Peat Group, Loral International Inc.
, and Vicarello SpA. He settled in Somerset and became Chairman of the Wessex Region of the National Trust
from 1976 to 1978.
MEP
for Somerset. He specialised in international affairs, successfully urging the European Commission to help fund Afghan refugees and bemoaning the Iran
ian government's failure to respect diplomatic immunity
in the Iran hostage crisis
. He helped draw up the European policy in the Conservative manifesto for the 1983 general election
.
Standing down at the 1984 election, Warner co-authored a pamphlet that November calling for the United Kingdom to become a full member of the European Monetary System
. He was Chairman of the Overseas Committee of the Confederation of British Industry
from 1985 to 1988, and in 1991 published a book titled "Anglo-Japanese Financial Relations".
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, KCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(2 May 1918 – 30 September 1995) was British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diplomat and businessman who at the end of his career was elected to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
.
Education
Warner was educated at Ludgrove SchoolLudgrove School
Ludgrove School is an independent preparatory boarding school for about 200 boys, aged from seven or eight years to thirteen. It is situated in the civil parish of Wokingham Without, adjoining the town of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...
in Wixenford
Wixenford
Wixenford is an area of the civil parish of Wokingham Without in which Ludgrove School is built. It adjoins Wokingham and is in the English county of Berkshire....
, and the Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
in Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
. He then went to Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and also studied at the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
.
Diplomatic Service
After service in the Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during the Second World War, Warner joined the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
in February 1946 as an Assistant Principal. Within a few months he had transferred to the Diplomatic Service as a Second Secretary. In 1950 Warner was promoted to First Secretary and posted to the British Embassy in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Warner returned to a London posting at the end of 1951. He was working in the private office of Hector McNeil
Hector McNeil
Hector McNeil PC was a Scottish Labour politician.McNeil was educated at Woodside School and the University of Glasgow, trained as an engineer and worked as a journalist on a Scottish national newspaper. He was a member of Glasgow Town Council 1932-8...
with Guy Burgess
Guy Burgess
Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess was a British-born intelligence officer and double agent, who worked for the Soviet Union. He was part of the Cambridge Five spy ring that betrayed Western secrets to the Soviets before and during the Cold War...
at the time of Burgess' defection to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
; Burgess' wayward behaviour at the time later led to accusations that Warner should have raised concerns about him. These accusations stalled Warner's career briefly: he remained in London for five years before in 1956 he was made acting Chargé d'affaires
Chargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
at the embassy in Rangoon, Burma
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
. From 1958 he was transferred to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. In 1960 Warner was made Head of the South-East Asia Department of the Foreign Office.
Advancement
From 1964 to 1965, Warner was transferred to the Imperial Defence College where he learned more about the relationship between defence and foreign policy. He was made Ambassador to LaosLaos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
from 1965 to 1967, and then served as Minister to NATO throughout 1968. A brief return to London as Under-Secretary of State at the (newly-merged) Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1969 was followed by the role of Ambassador and Deputy Permanent United Kingdom Representative to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
Ambassadorship
Warner married for the first time in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1971, Simone Georgina de Ferranti (Née Nangle), who gave him a stepdaughter and two sons of his own, one of whom is TV chef Valentine Warner
Valentine Warner
Valentine Warner is a cook. He started his television career on the BBC in Autumn 2008 with What to Eat Now, a cookery programme based on his book of the same name....
. At the end of that year he was named as Ambassador to Japan and learned Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
at the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
. He made the arrangements for the visit of Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
to Japan, the first such visit by a sitting British Prime Minister. Despite Warner's unstuffiness (which ruffled some feathers among the Japanese civil servants who expected more formality), he became popular and was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun
Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun...
, 1st Class.
At the end of his posting Warner hoped for a top flight post, conceivably even as Ambassador to Paris or to Washington. He was disappointed when others were named to these posts, and Warner retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1975, reasoning that it would be easier for him to start a second career as early as possible.
Business career
He then went into business, becoming a business consultant and Director of Globalstar TelecommunicationsGlobalstar
Globalstar is a low Earth orbit satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications, somewhat similar to the Iridium satellite constellation and Orbcomm satellite systems.-History:...
Ltd. He later picked up directorships of the Mercantile and General Reinsurance Company Ltd, Chloride Group
Chloride Group
Chloride Group, a business of Emerson Network Power, is the UK's largest supplier of secure power systems to hospitals and other public buildings and facilities...
Ltd, Guinness Peat Group, Loral International Inc.
Loral Corporation
Loral Corporation was a defense contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company's name was taken from the first letters of each founder's surname....
, and Vicarello SpA. He settled in Somerset and became Chairman of the Wessex Region of the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
from 1976 to 1978.
European Parliament
At the 1979 elections to the European Parliament, Warner was elected as a ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for Somerset. He specialised in international affairs, successfully urging the European Commission to help fund Afghan refugees and bemoaning the Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian government's failure to respect diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
in the Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
. He helped draw up the European policy in the Conservative manifesto for the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
.
Standing down at the 1984 election, Warner co-authored a pamphlet that November calling for the United Kingdom to become a full member of the European Monetary System
European Monetary System
There are three stages of monetary cooperation in the European Union.-Background:European currency exchange rate stability has been one of the most important objectives of European policy makers at least since the Second World War....
. He was Chairman of the Overseas Committee of the Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
from 1985 to 1988, and in 1991 published a book titled "Anglo-Japanese Financial Relations".