Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
The Lord Carrington | |
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6th Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization | |
In office 25 June 1984 – 1 July 1988 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Luns |
Succeeded by | Manfred Wörner |
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
In office 4 May 1979 – 5 April 1982 | |
Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | David Owen |
Succeeded by | Francis Pym |
Secretary of State for Energy | |
In office 8 January 1974 – 4 March 1974 | |
Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Eric Varley |
Secretary of State for Defence | |
In office 20 June 1970 – 8 January 1974 | |
Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Denis Healey |
Succeeded by | Ian Gilmour |
Leader of the House of Lords | |
In office 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964 | |
Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home |
Preceded by | The Viscount Hailsham |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Longford |
Minister without Portfolio | |
In office 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964 | |
Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home |
Preceded by | Bill Deedes |
Succeeded by | George Thomson |
First Lord of the Admiralty | |
In office 14 October 1959 – 20 October 1963 | |
Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | The Earl of Selkirk |
Succeeded by | The Earl Jellicoe |
High Commissioner to Australia | |
In office 1956–1959 | |
Prime Minister | Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Stephen Holmes |
Succeeded by | William Oliver |
Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
In office 1972–1974 | |
Leader | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Peter Thomas |
Succeeded by | William Whitelaw |
Personal details | |
Born | London, United Kingdom | 6 June 1919
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Iona McClean (1942–2009) |
Children | Alexandra Virginia Rupert |
Alma mater | Royal Military Academy Sandhurst |
Military service | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch/service | ![]() |
Years of service | 1939–1949 (Inactive from 1945) |
Rank | Major (Hon) Captain |
Unit | Grenadier Guards |
Battles/wars | Second World War |
Awards | Military Cross |
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington KG GCMG CH MC PC DL (born 6 June 1919) is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Defence Secretary between 1970 and 1974, Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982, and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the 1951–55 government of Winston Churchill, and of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home. Following the House of Lords Act 1999, which removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, Carrington was created a life peer as Baron Carington of Upton, of Upton in the County of Nottinghamshire, to enable him to continue to sit there.
Carrington was Foreign Secretary in 1982 when the Falkland Islands were invaded by Argentina. He took full responsibility for the complacency and failures in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to foresee this development and resigned. However, as Secretary General of NATO, he played a very constructive role in preventing a war between Greece and Turkey (both members of the Alliance) in March 1987, having the trust and respect of both Andreas Papandreou of Greece and Turgut Özal of Turkey.[1]
Background, education and military career
Carrington is the only son of Rupert Carington, 5th Baron Carrington, by his wife, the Hon. Sybil Marion Colville, a daughter of Charles Colville, 2nd Viscount Colville of Culross. He is a great-nephew of the Liberal statesman Robert Wynn-Carington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire, and also of politician and courtier the Hon. Sir William Carington.[2] He was educated at two independent schools: Sandroyd School[3] from 1928–1932, at the time based in the town of Cobham, Surrey, and Eton College, followed by the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Following Sandhurst, Carrington was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards as a second lieutenant on 26 January 1939.[4] He served with the regiment during the Second World War, he was promoted lieutenant on 1 January 1941,[5] and later rose to the rank of temporary captain and acting major, and was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on 1 March 1945.[6] After the war, Carrington remained in the army until 1949.[7]
Political career 1946–1982
In 1938, Carrington succeeded his father as 6th Baron Carrington. Although he became eligible to take his seat in the House of Lords on his 21st birthday in 1940, he was on active service at the time, and did not do so until October 1945.[8] After leaving the Army, he became involved in politics and served in the Conservative governments of Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food from November 1951 to October 1954 and to the Ministry of Defence from October 1954 to October 1956. The latter year Carrington was appointed High Commissioner to Australia, a post he held until October 1959. He was also appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire on 2 July 1951.[9] He became a Privy Counsellor in 1959.[10]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Plaque_stonework_ainslie_church_ACT.jpg/220px-Plaque_stonework_ainslie_church_ACT.jpg)
After his return to Britain he served under Harold Macmillan as First Lord of the Admiralty until October 1963,[11] and was then Minister without Portfolio and Leader of the House of Lords under Alec Douglas-Home until October 1964, when the Conservatives fell from power. From 1964 to 1970 he was Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. When the Conservatives returned to power in 1970 under Edward Heath, Carrington became Defence Secretary, where he remained until 1974 when the Conservatives were voted out in favour of Harold Wilson's Labour. In a 1977 letter discussing the policy of torture of Irish republican internees during Operation Demetrius in August 1971, the then Home Secretary Merlyn Rees attributed the origins of the policy in particular to Carrington: '"It is my view (confirmed by Brian Faulkner before his death [NI's prime minister at the time]) that the decision to use methods of torture in Northern Ireland in 1971/72 was taken by ministers – in particular Lord Carrington, then secretary of state for defence."[12][13]
Carrington had become Shadow Defence Secretary in 1968 following the dismissal of Enoch Powell from the position following his controversial Rivers of Blood speech on immigration.[14] He also served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1972 to 1974, and was briefly Secretary of State for Energy from January to March 1974.
Carrington was again Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords from 1974 to 1979. In 1979 he was made Foreign Secretary and Minister for Overseas Development as part of the first Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher spoke very highly of Carrington, stating "Peter had great panache and the ability to identify immediately the main points in any argument; and he could express himself in pungent terms. We had disagreements, but there were never any hard feelings."[15] He chaired the Lancaster House conference in 1979, attended by Ian Smith, Abel Muzorewa, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, and Josiah Tongogara, which brought to end Southern Rhodesia's civil war, the Rhodesian Bush War. He would later express his support for Mugabe over Smith.[16] He was Foreign Secretary in 1982 when the Falkland Islands were invaded by Argentina. He took full responsibility for the complacency and failures in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to foresee this development and resigned. Ministerial resignations in such circumstances are rare, and Carrington's attracted animated press discussion of the principles involved; it may be no coincidence that he had in 1954 been junior minister to Thomas Dugdale at the time of the latter's landmark resignation as Minister of Agriculture over the Crichel Down affair, and had then himself offered his resignation but been persuaded to withdraw it.
Later career
Lord Carrington then served as Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He was also appointed Chancellor of the Order of St Michael and St George on 1 August 1984,[17] serving until June 1994.[18]
In 1991, he presided over diplomatic talks about the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and attempted to pass a plan that would end the wars and result in each republic becoming an independent nation.
Apart from his political posts, he was the Chancellor of the University of Reading and has served as chairman of several companies, including Christie's, and as a director of many others, including Barclays Bank, Schweppes and the Daily Telegraph. He also chaired the Bilderberg conferences for several years in the late 1990s, being succeeded in 1999 by Étienne Davignon.[19] From 1983 to 2002, he was president of the Pilgrims Society.[20][21] He was appointed Chancellor of the Order of the Garter on 8 November 1994,[22] a role from which he retired in October 2012.[23]
After the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, Carrington (along with all former Leaders of the House of Lords) was given a life peerage on 17 November 1999 as Baron Carington of Upton, of Upton in the County of Nottinghamshire,[24] and therefore still sits in the House of Lords. He is currently the longest-serving member of the House of Lords, and since the retirement of Lord Barber of Tewkesbury in March 2016, he has been the oldest member. He is the second longest-serving member of the Privy Council after HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
His surname (which the family assumed in 1839 in lieu of Smith) and life peerage are both spelt Carington (single "r"), and the hereditary peerages are spelt Baron Carrington (double "r").[24]
Honours
- Military Cross, 1945
- Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG), 1958[25]
- Lord of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, 1959
- Companion of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH), 1983[26]
- Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG), 1985;[27] Chancellor of the Order from 1994[22]
- Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG), 1988[28] Chancellor of the Order 1984–94[17][29]
- Life peerage, as Baron Carington of Upton, 1999[24]
- Medal of Honour, for his contribution regarding Serbian war crimes committed against civilians in Croatia (especially in the Vukovar massacre and rough displacement of citizens), 1999
- Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1988
- Freedom of the City of London
Honorary degrees
- University of Cambridge (LL.D) in 1981.[30]
- University of Essex (DUniv) in 1983.[31]
- University of Reading (DLitt) in December 1989.[32][33]
- Harvard University (LLD) in 1986.[34]
- University of Nottingham (LLD) in 1993.[35]
- University of Newcastle upon Tyne (DCL) 14 December 1998.[36]
- University of Oxford (DCL) 21 November 2003.[37]
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Styles
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Lord_Carrington.jpg/220px-Lord_Carrington.jpg)
- Peter Carington (1919–1929)
- The Hon. Peter Carington (1929–1938)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington (1938–1945)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington MC (1945–1951)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington MC DL (1951–1958)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington KCMG MC DL (1958–1959)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington KCMG MC PC DL (1959–1983)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington CH KCMG MC PC DL (1983–1985)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington KG CH KCMG MC PC DL (1985–1988)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington KG GCMG CH MC PC DL (1988–)
Family
Lord Carrington married Iona McClean, daughter of Lt.-Colonel Sir Francis Kennedy McClean AFC, on 25 April 1942. They have three children:
- The Hon. Alexandra Carington DL (Norfolk) (born 1943); married Major Peter de Bunsen in 1965, becoming the Hon. Mrs de Bunsen. They have three children:
- Victoria de Bunsen (born 1968)
- Charles Rupert de Bunsen (born 1970)
- James Peter de Bunsen (born 1973)
- The Hon. Virginia Carington LVO (born 1946); married Henry Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe, in 1973, becoming Lady Ashcombe. The couple divorced in 1979.
- The Hon. Rupert Francis John Carington DL (Buckinghamshire) (born 1948) – heir apparent; married Daniela Diotallevi in 1989. They have three children:
- Robert Carington (born 1990)
- Francesca Carington (born 1993)
- Isabella Iona Carington (born 1995)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F068478-0034%2C_Bonn%2C_NATO_Generalsekret%C3%A4r_bei_Minister_Genscher.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F068478-0034%2C_Bonn%2C_NATO_Generalsekret%C3%A4r_bei_Minister_Genscher.jpg)
Lord Carrington's wife, Lady Carrington, died on 7 June 2009.[38]
In popular culture
Carrington was portrayed by Rowan Atkinson on Not the Nine O'Clock News in a parody of Question Time, in which Lord Carrington was portrayed as pedantically discussing an imminent nuclear holocaust.
Carrington was portrayed by James Fox in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.
Carrington was referenced on the 6th series of Peep Show (2009) in a list of imagined dog names by Mark.
Carrington was briefly portrayed by James Smith in the 2011 film The Iron Lady.
Carrington was briefly portrayed by Jeff Rawle in the 2014 play Handbagged.
Arms
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Ancestry
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Notes
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/29/world/greeks-and-turks-ease-aegean-crisis.html
- ^ Lundy, Darryl. "Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington of Upton". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 4 November 2010.[unreliable source]
- ^ "Sandroyd School's list of Distinguished Alumni". Sandroyd.org. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ "No. 34593". The London Gazette. 27 January 1939.
- ^ "No. 35077". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 14 February 1941. - ^ "No. 36961". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 14 February 1941. - ^ "No. 37815". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 10 December 1946.
"No. 38636". The London Gazette (invalid|supp=
(help)). 10 June 1949.
"No. 38654". The London Gazette (invalid|supp=
(help)). 1 July 1949. - ^ http://www.parliament.uk/about/faqs/house-of-lords-faqs/lords-members/
- ^ "No. 39278". The London Gazette. 6 July 1951.
- ^ 'List of current Privy Counsellors'
- ^ "No. 41860". The London Gazette. 3 November 1959.
"No. 41891". The London Gazette. 11 December 1959.
"No. 41966". The London Gazette. 26 February 1960.
"No. 42044". The London Gazette. 27 May 1960.
"No. 42249". The London Gazette. 13 January 1961.
"No. 42321". The London Gazette. 7 April 1961.
"No. 42476". The London Gazette. 29 September 1961.
"No. 42504". The London Gazette. 3 November 1961.
"No. 42564". The London Gazette. 5 January 1962.
"No. 42909". The London Gazette. 1 February 1963.
"No. 42925". The London Gazette. 19 February 1963.
"No. 42995". The London Gazette. 17 May 1963.
"No. 43077". The London Gazette. 9 August 1963. - ^ 'British ministers sanctioned torture of NI internees' (5 June 2014)
- ^ 'British government authorised use of torture methods in NI in early 1970s' (5 June 2014)
- ^ "Powell's 'rivers of blood' legacy". BBC News. 18 April 2008.
- ^ Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years (HarperCollins, 1993), p. 27.
- ^ Holland, Heidi (February 2009). Dinner with Mugabe: The Untold Story of a Freedom Fighter Who Became a Tyrant. London: Penguin Books. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-14-104079-0.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ a b "No. 49826". The London Gazette. 3 August 1984.
- ^ "Court Circular". Independent. 10 June 1994.
- ^ Rockefeller, David (2002). Memoirs. Random House. p. 412. ISBN 0-679-40588-7.
- ^ Who's Who. 1999.
- ^ "Centennial History". www.pilgrimsociety.org.
- ^ a b "No. 53843". The London Gazette. 8 November 1994.
- ^ "No. 60301". The London Gazette. 17 October 2012.
- ^ a b c "No. 55676". The London Gazette. 23 November 1999.
- ^ "No. 41404". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 3 June 1958. - ^ "No. 49375". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 10 June 1983. - ^ "No. 50104". The London Gazette. 26 April 1985.
- ^ "No. 51365". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=
(help)). 10 June 1988. - ^ "No. 53691". The London Gazette. 7 June 1994.
- ^ "Honorary degrees conferred 1977" (PDF).
- ^ "Calendar of the University of Essex – Former Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors, Emeritus Professors, Emeritus Librarians, Honorary Fellows and Honorary Graduates of the University". Essex.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ "Lord Carrington – Chancellor of the University of Reading – University of Reading". Rdg.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ "honorary graduates of the university of reading – University of Reading". Rdg.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ "Harvard University Commencement | Some honorary degree recipients". Commencement.harvard.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ [1] Template:Wayback
- ^ "Home Page – Alumni Association – Newcastle University". Ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ [2] Template:Wayback
- ^ "Lady Carrington". The Daily Telegraph. London. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ Chesshyre, Hubert (1996), The Friends of St. George's & Descendants of the Knights of the Garter Annual Review 1995/96, vol. VII, p. 287
- ^ Burke, John. A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage... London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1832. Volume 1, p. 217. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
Bibliography
- Reflect on Things Past – The Memoirs of Lord Carrington. Published by William Collins, 1988.
External links
- Announcement of his taking the oath under his new title at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 17 November 1999
- Lord Carrington's views on the EU from the Daily Telegraph
- Thatcher's First Cabinet
- Imperial War Museum Interview
- Use dmy dates from January 2013
- 1919 births
- Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain
- Barons in the Peerage of Ireland
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British people of the Falklands War
- British Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- Chancellors of the Order of the Garter
- Chancellors of the University of Reading
- Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK)
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
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- Diplomatic peers
- First Lords of the Admiralty
- Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
- Grenadier Guards officers
- High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Australia
- Leaders of the House of Lords
- Living people
- Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group
- Secretaries General of NATO
- People educated at Eton College
- People educated at Sandroyd School
- People from Buckinghamshire
- Secretaries of State for Defence (UK)
- Smith and Carington family