Alvary Gascoigne

Sir Alvary Douglas Frederick Trench-Gascoigne GBE, KCMG (6 August 1893 – 18 April 1970) was a British diplomat.[1]

Sir Alvary Gascoigne
GBE KCMG
Portrait of Alvary Gascoigne, c. 1930
British Ambassador to Russia
In office
1951–1953
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded bySir David Kelly
Succeeded bySir William Hayter
British Political Representative to Japan
In office
1946–1951
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded bySir Robert Craigie (1937, as Ambassador)
Succeeded bySir Esler Dening
Personal details
Born(1893-08-06)6 August 1893
Died18 April 1970(1970-04-18) (aged 76)
NationalityBritish
Spouses
Sylvia Wilder
​
​
(m. 1916; div. 1935)​
    Lorna Priscilla Leatham
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1935)​
    Children2

    Early life

    Alvary Douglas Frederick Trench-Gascoigne was born on 6 August 1893. He was the son of Colonel Frederic Richard Thomas Trench Gascoigne and Laura Gwendolen Douglas Galton.[2] His paternal grandmother was the elder daughter and co-heir of Richard Oliver Gascoigne of Parlington Hall, Yorkshire and Castle Oliver, County Limerick. His great-aunt Elizabeth Oliver Gascoigne was the wife of Frederick Mason Trench, 2nd Baron Ashtown.[3]

    Career

    Gascoigne began military service in the First World War as a Second Lieutenant in the cavalry dragoons.[4] In 1915, he was transferred to the Coldstream Guards (Royal Field Artillery).[5]

    Diplomatic career

    Gascoigne's career as a diplomat lasted from 1921 through 1953.[2] In 1925, he was appointed as Second Secretary in the Foreign Office;[6] and he was promoted to First Secretary in 1933.[7]

    In August 1939, Gascoigne was named Consul-General for the Tangier Zone and the Spanish Zone of the Protectorate of Morocco, to reside at Tangier. He and Lorna worked to help European Jews who were refugees in wartime Tangier.[8] In August 1941, Gascoigne was promoted to the diplomatic rank of embassy Counsellor.[9]

    Gascoigne was the British "Political Representative" in Japan from 1946 through 1951.[10] In 1947 when he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.[11] He left Tokyo in 1951.[12]

    Sir Alvary was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Moscow on 18 October, 1951.[13] In December 1951, he was honored as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire.[14]

    Personal life
    Lotherton Hall, Aberford, near Leeds

    In 1916 he married Sylvia Wilder, daughter of Brigader-General Wilber Elliott Wilder. Before his first marriage ended in divorce in 1935, they had two children:

    • Douglas Wilder Trench-Gascoigne (1917–1944)[2]
    • Yvonne Studd-Trench-Gascoigne (1919–1973)[2]

    Later in the same year of his divorce, he remarried to Lorna Priscilla Leatham.[2] On the death of his father in 1937,[15] he inherited Lotherton Hall, the family home, which was purchased by his grandfather in the 1820's. Sir Alvary lived in retirement at Lotherton Hall. In 1968, he presented the Hall and grounds to Leeds City Council.[16] Sir Alvary in 1968 also donated a collection of over 3000 books, pamphlets and periodicals, mainly relating to military and naval history, to Leeds Central Library in memory of his father Colonel F.R.T. Gascoigne.[17]

    He died on 18 April 1970 at age 76; and the London Gazette published a notice of Sir Alvary's death.[1]

    Honours

    See also

    Notes
    1. Lundy, Darryl. "Sir Alvary Douglas Frederick Trench-Gascoigne, ID#34634". The Peerage.;"No. 45089". The London Gazette. 28 April 1970. p. 4854.
    2. Lundy, Darryl. "ID#34634". The Peerage., citing Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (Charles Mosley, ed.), 1999, vol. 1, p. 124.
    3. "Richard Oliver Gascoigne". parlington.co.uk. Parlington Hall. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
    4. "No. 28791". The London Gazette. 9 January 1914. p. 259.; "No. 28947". The London Gazette. 20 October 1914. p. 8491.
    5. "No. 31256". The London Gazette. 28 March 1919. p. 4107.
    6. "No. 33050". The London Gazette. 26 May 1925. p. 3550.
    7. "No. 33983". The London Gazette. 3 October 1933. p. 6352.
    8. "No. 34711". The London Gazette. 17 November 1939. p. 6949.
    9. "No. 35414". The London Gazette. 9 January 1942. p. 194.
    10. Hoare, James. (1999). Embassies in the East: the Story of the British Embassies in Japan, China, and Korea from 1859 to the Present, p. 214., p. 214, at Google Books
    11. "No. 38161". The London Gazette. 30 December 1947. p. 7.; 3rd grade "No. 38262". The London Gazette. 16 April 1948. p. 2411.; 2nd grade "No. 38952". The London Gazette. 23 June 1950. p. 3257.
    12. UK Hansard, HC Deb 21 March 1951 vol 485 cc2413-4; retrieved 2011-05-18
    13. "No. 39513". The London Gazette. 11 April 1952. p. 2013.
    14. "No. 39732". The London Gazette. 30 December 1952. p. 21.
    15. "No. 34438". The London Gazette. 24 September 1937. p. 5987.; "No. 34509". The London Gazette. 10 May 1938. p. 3014.
    16. Leodis, Lotherton Hall, Sir Alvary Gascoigne; retrieved 2011-05-18
    17. "The GASCOIGNE Collection". The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2021.

    References
    • Hoare, James. (1999). Embassies in the East: the Story of the British Embassies in Japan, China, and Korea from 1859 to the Present. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. ISBN 9780700705122; OCLC 42645589
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