James Delamere
The Right Honourable Sir James Delamere OBE | |
|---|---|
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
| In office 1951–1963 | |
| Monarch | George VI Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan |
| Preceded by | Marquess of Dufferin and Ava |
| Succeeded by | Nigel Fisher and Richard Hornby |
| MP for Denbigh | |
| In office 1935–1964 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Morris-Jones |
| Succeeded by | Geraint Morgan |
| British Ambassador to the Netherlands | |
| In office 1933–1935 | |
| Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | Odo Russell |
| Succeeded by | Sir Hubert Montgomery |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 11th, 1905 Clwyd, Wales |
| Died | May 13th, 2001 (age 95) London, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Other political affiliations | National Liberal (1935-36) |
| Spouse | Sian Delamere |
| Children | 6 |
| Parents |
|
| Awards | Order of the British Empire |
Sir James Delamere OBE (December 11 1905-May 13 2001) was a British politican, diplomat and businessman, who served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1951 to 1963, and Member of Parliament for Denbigh from 1935 to 1963. Delamere began his career in the Foreign Office, working in France and Germany, and being appointed Ambassador to Belgium in 1933. Delamere gained a seat in the House of Commons in 1935, representing Denbigh for nearly thirty years. Delamere would later be employed as an executive at British Petroleum, having reportedly been involved in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état to restablish western oil intrests.
Delamere was an early opposer of appeasement of Nazi Germany, though not as outspoken as his colleague Winston Churchill, his efforts gained him respect in Churchill's government, and served in a variety of posts during the Second World War, making his way to Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1951, and overseeing much of the decolonisation of the following decade.
Delamere was born to a prominent family, his father John was an officer during the First World War, and worked in the communications industry, his mother Colette was born to the noble Cavendish family, a second cousin of the Duke of Devonshire and facilitated James' rise in the civil service. James attended Oxford University, studying politics. However during James' lifetime the Delamere family would grow to national importance, with international influence.
Family
On June 30th 1928 James married German-Welsh student Sian Kempelhof, the granddaughter of German statesman Heinrich von Kempelhof, in St Asaph Cathedral, Clwyd. They lived in a smaller property on the grounds of the Gwysaney Estate. In 1929 the couple had their first child, a son Alexander. Alexander would serve as the British Ambassador to West Germany, and later to NATO, he fathered British Prime Minister George Delamere. Their second child was also a son, James Jr., born in 1932. James became the Director of the British Museum and the Delamere Foundation. The third child of the couple was a daughter named Florence, born in 1934. Florence also served on the Delamere foundation, and was a notable socialite in London and New York, a friend of John F. Kennedy. The fourth child was a son called Hugo, born in 1937. Hugo would move to West Germany in 1956 and established a hotel. The fifth child was a son born in 1940 called Peter. He, alike his father, worked for BP in the Middle East and America. The couple's last child was a daughter called Jessica, born in 1943. Jessica was a renouned journalist like her mother.