The Papers of Sir Horace Seymour

Fonds

Reference Code: GBR/0014/SEYR

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correspondence, papers and photographs. The collection covers the period from 1930-1981 and is made up largely of correspondence to and from Sir Horace and Lady Seymour.

Dates

Creation: 1930 - 1981

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Biographical / Historical

Horace Seymour was born 26 February 1885 and in 1917 he married Violet Erskine, they had three children, Hugh, Virginia and Joan. He entered the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service in 1908. His earliest posts included Second Secretary, Washington (1919), First Secretary, The Hague (1923), First Secretary, Rome (1925), and Principal Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1932-1936). He was British Minister in Tehran, 1936-1939, then Assistant Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, 1939-1942 and British Ambassador to China, 1942-1946. Seymour retired in 1947. He was then a member of the Franco-Siamese Conciliation Commission Order of the Brilliant Star with a Special Cravat conferred upon Lady Seymour by the Chinese government. In 1949 he was a member of the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans. Seymour died in 1978.

Extent

5 archive box(es)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Other Finding Aids

Copies of the collection level description and catalogue are available for consulatation at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge and at the National Register of Archives, London.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These papers were deposited at Churchill Archives Centre by Lady Seymour between April 1979 and July 1981.

General

This collection (fonds) level description was prepared by Louise King at Churchill Archives Centre in October 2004. Information was obtained from the original catalogue of the papers (1980) and the papers themselves.