John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby

John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby

John Loader Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby, GCMG, KCB, KCVO, CSI, CIE (1 July 1877–20 April, 1969) was a British civil servant.

Maffey was the younger son of Thomas Maffey, a commercial traveller of Rugby, Warwickshire, and his wife Mary Penelope, daughter of John Loader. He was educated at Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford. Maffey entered the Indian Civil Service in 1899, and notably served as Private Secretary to the Viceroy of India Lord Chelmsford from 1916 to 1920 and Chief Commissioner of the North-West Frontier Province from 1921 to 1924. After a disagreement with the British government in 1924, Maffey resigned from the Indian Civil Service. In 1926 he became Governor-General of the Sudan, followed in 1933 by his appointment as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. At Winston Churchill's request he became the first United Kingdom representative to Ireland in 1939, a post he held throughout the war years and until his retirement in 1949.

During the war Maffey was undoubtedly the most important foreign diplomat resident in Dublin. Appointed as 'British representative to Ireland', he quickly established a good working relationship with Éamon de Valera. De Valera was personally in favour of the survival of democracy, but did not necessarily trust the British to look after Ireland's best interests. Maffey's was vital in mediating between the 'Warlord' Churchill and 'the Chief' de Valera.

In 1947 Maffey was raised to the peerage as Baron Rugby, of Rugby in the County of Warwick.

Lord Rugby married Dorothy Gladys Huggins, daughter of Charles Lang Huggins, on 28 August 1907. Their daughter Penelope Aitken became a well-known socialite, and was the mother of the former Conservative politician Jonathan Aitken and the actress Maria Aitken and the grandmother of actor Jack Davenport. Lord Rugby died in April 1969, aged 91. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Alan Loader Maffey.

ee also

*List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Ireland

References

*Oxbury, Harold. "Great Britons: Twentieth-Century Lives". London: Promotional Reprint Company Ltd, 1993.
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Baron Rugby — Baron Rugby, of Rugby in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1947 for the civil servant Sir John Maffey. As of 2006 the title is held by his grandson, the third Baron, who succeeded his father …   Wikipedia

  • Jonathan Aitken — Infobox Politician honorific prefix = name = Jonathan Aitken honorific suffix = office = Chief Secretary to the Treasury term start = 20 July 1994 term end = 5 July 1995 primeminister = John Major predecessor = Michael Portillo successor =… …   Wikipedia

  • Maria Aitken — Born Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken September 12, 1945 (1945 09 12) (age 66) Dublin, Ireland Occupation Actor, writer, producer, director Years active 1967– Spou …   Wikipedia

  • Philip de László — Self portrait, 1911 Philip Alexius de László, MVO (30 April 1869 Budapest 22 November 1937 London)[1] was a Hungarian painter known particularly for his portraits of royal and aristocratic personages …   Wikipedia

  • Penelope Aitken — Penelope Loader, Lady Aitken, MBE (2 December 1910 ndash; 7 February 2005), styled The Hon. Lady Aitken and nicknamed Pempe , was an English socialite.Born Penelope Loader Maffey, she was the daughter of Sir John Maffey, later 1st Baron Rugby,… …   Wikipedia

  • Anmer Hall — is situated in the Norfolk village of Anmer in England, about two miles east of The Queen s residence at Sandringham. Leased by the Duke and Duchess of Kent as their country house from 1972 until 1990, it has formed part of the Sandringham estate …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”