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Leslie Alfred Charles Fry

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Major Sir
Leslie Alfred Charles Fry
File:Sir Leslie Alfred Charles Fry.jpg
In office
March 23, 1889 (1889-03-23) – (1892-03-25)March 25, 1892
In office
March 23, 1889 (1889-03-23) – (1912-12-15)December 15, 1912
United Kingdom Ambassador to Hungary
In office
October 24, 1855 (1855-10-24) – (1959-02-11)February 11, 1959
Personal details
Born(1908-04-17)April 17, 1908
DiedOctober 21, 1976(1976-10-21) (aged 68)
NationalityBritish
EducationRoyal Masonic School, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
ProfessionDiplomat and Ambassador

Leslie Alfred Charles Fry KCMG CMG OBE MBE (17 April 1908 - 21 October 1976) was a British diplomat, who served as Ambassador to Hungary, Indonesia and Brazil.[1] He was awarded Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross by the Government of Brazil. During the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 he opened the doors of the British embassy to Hungarian refugees, receiving a knighthood the following year.

Early life

Leslie "Bunny" Fry was born in 1908 in Monmouthshire, Wales and christened in Jammu and Kashmir.

Fry's parents were Florence Rose Fry (nee Stokes, 1882-1918) and Alfred Andrew Fry MBE (1870-1919). Leslie Fry's father was a Freemason[2] who prior to World War 1 had served in the South Wales Borderers as a Lieutenant and Quartermaster, Monmouthshire Regiment, 3rd Battalion, and during World War 1 as both a captain in the British Army, Monmouthshire Regiment, 3rd Battalion (Territorial) and a lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, 12th Wing,

Fry attended the Royal Masonic School and later graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[3]

Family life

Fry's first wife was Mary Cuerden, from whom he separated and remarried. Mary Cuerden's second husband was Captain Basil Gerritsen Ivory, formerly of the Special Operations Executive and director of the investment trust British Assets Trust Limited. Fry's second wife was Marian Bentley, who he married in 1954.

British Army career

Fry joined the British Army in India from 1928.

02 Feb 1928 promoted to Second Lieutenant, Indian Army[4]

1933 transferred to the Indian Political Service

1941 - 1944 Undersecretary of the Government of India in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1946 Deputy Secretary of the Government of India in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Diplomatic career

23 Jun 1947 joined His Majesty's Foreign Service at the Seventh Grade[5][6](listed alongside his cousin, Robert Morton Saner OBE)

30 Oct 1947 transferred from Indian Civil Service to Foreign Office[7]

1951 - 1953 Minister-Counsellor in Lisbon

1953 - 1955 Head of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department

24 Oct 1955 appointed Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Budapest[8]

11 Feb 1959 appointed Her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Djakarta[9]

16 Jun 1963 - 1966 Her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Rio de Janeiro[10] replacing Geoffrey Wallinger

Fry retired in 1966 and returned to Britain.

Awards and honours

  • 01 Jan 1944 awarded MBE[11] when serving in the Indian Political Service as "Under Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department"
  • 14 Aug 1947 awarded OBE[12] when "Deputy Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations Department"
  • 09 Jun 1955 awarded CMG[13]
  • 13 Jun 1957 awarded KCMG[14]

See also

Fry's memoirs, published in 1978, two years after his death[15]

References

  1. ^ "Fry, Major Sir Leslie Alfred Charles". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. Oxford University Press. December 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U154651. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  2. ^ Library and Museum of Freemasonry; London, England; Freemasonry Membership Registers; Description: Membership Registers: Country K 816-940 to Country L 941-1013; Reel Number: 13
  3. ^ Great Britain. Foreign Office (1963). The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book. Harrison and Sons. p. 212. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  4. ^ "No. 33510". London Gazette. 28 June 1929. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ "No. 38534". London Gazette. 8 February 1949. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  6. ^ Gerhard Besier (25 November 2015). 'Intimately Associated for Many Years': George K. A. Bell's and Willem A. Visser 't Hooft's Common Life-Work in the Service of the Church Universal – Mirrored in their Correspondence (Part Two 1950-1958). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 1070. ISBN 978-1-4438-8625-3. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  7. ^ "No. 38148". London Gazette. 16 December 1947. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ Chris Cook (2 October 2012). The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources since 1945. Routledge. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-136-50961-2. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  9. ^ "No. 41676". London Gazette. 7 April 1959. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. ^ "No. 43093". London Gazette. 27 August 1963. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  11. ^ "No. 36309". London Gazette. 1 January 1944. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  12. ^ "No. 38161". London Gazette. 30 December 1947. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  13. ^ "No. 40497". London Gazette. 9 June 1955. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  14. ^ "No. 41089". London Gazette. 13 June 1957. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  15. ^ Fry, Leslie (1978-01-01). As Luck Would Have It: A Memoir (UK ed.). London: Phillimore & Company. ISBN 9780850333145.


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