John Colvin CMG
Privacy Level: Public (Green)

John Horace Ragnar Colvin CMG (1922 - 2003)

John Horace Ragnar Colvin CMG
Born in Tokyo, Japanmap
Ancestors ancestors
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 18 Dec 1948 (to 1963) in Westminster, London, Englandmap
Father of
Died at age 81 in Lambeth, London, Englandmap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Alison Kilpatrick private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 15 Jun 2015
This page has been accessed 1,047 times.
Notables Project
John Colvin CMG is Notable.

John Horace Ragnar Colvin, C.M.G.
Lieutenant-Commander, R.N.
Diplomat, secret agent, banker, historian, and writer.

Contents

Biography

Life events

John Horace Ragnar Colvin was born in 1922 in Tokyo, the son of Captain Ragnar Musgrave Colvin, R.N. and Frances Sybil Ferguson Kays. [1] [2]
Mr Colvin was twice married, with issue from both marriages. [1]
John Horace Ragnar Colvin, C.M.G., died in Lambeth, Surrey, on the 4th October 2003, aged 81 years. [1] [2]

Career notes

Overview of Mr Colvin’s career:
  • naval officer, diplomat, secret agent, banker, historian, writer. [1]
  • educated at St Aubyn’s school. [1]
  • commenced Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, 1935. [1]
  • served in WWII in Indo-China (Vietnam). [1]
  • after special operations training in India and Sri Lanka, worked undercover in South Vietnam, 1945. [3]
  • retired from the Royal Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, late 1940s. [3] [4]
  • studied at the School of Slavonic and East European College, London University, 1949-50. [1] [4]
  • joined the foreign service, 1951; served in Oslo and Vienna. [1]
  • was recruited by the secret intelligence service (SIS). [1]
  • posted to the British high commission in Kuala Lumpur, 1957/8. [1] [3]
  • British Consul-General in Hanoi, 1965-67. [1] [4]
  • spent three years in London. [3]
  • appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (C.M.G.), 1968. [4]
  • H.M. Ambassador to Outer Mongolia, 1971-74. [1] [4]
  • head of the SIS station in Washington, D.C., 1977-80. [4]
  • retired from the British civil service, 1980. [1]
  • advised David Rockefeller in Hong Kong as vice-president, Chase-Manhattan Bank, 1980-88. [4]
  • wrote military history. [4] 1993–2005.
  • reviewed books for The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, and The Economist. [3]
Amongst his colleagues, Mr Colvin's skeletal face earned him the nickname of "the screaming scull." [1]
Title while ambassador at the British Embassy in Ulan Bator in Outer Mongolia: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, His Excellency John Horace Ragnar Colvin, C.M.G. [5]
Clubs: Member of the St James’s Club, Brooks’s, the Beefsteak, and the Academy Club. [4]

Legacy

Written works

  • Colvin, John Horace Ragnar. Twice Around the World: Some Memoirs of Diplomatic Life in North Vietnam and Outer Mongolia. London: Leo Cooper, 1991.
  • Colvin, John Horace Ragnar. Volcano Under Snow: Vo Nguyen Giap. London: Quartet Books, 1996.
  • Colvin, John Horace Ragnar. Lions of Judah. London: Quartet Books, 1997.
  • Colvin, John Horace Ragnar. Nomonhan. London: Quartet Books, 1999.
  • Colvin, John Horace Ragnar. Decisive Battles: Over 20 Key Naval and Military Battles That Shaped the Course of History. London: Headline, 2004.
  • Colvin, John Horace Ragnar. No Ordinary Men: The Story Of The Battle Of Kohima. Barnsley, Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2005.

Sources

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Seward, Desmond. “John Colvin: Colourful British Diplomat on Watch in the World’s Troublespots.” The Guardian (15 October 2003). Digital copy online at www.theguardian.com/news/2003/oct/15/guardianobituaries (accessed 2018-08-30).
  2. 2.0 2.1 Index of civil registrations of deaths, England. John Horace R. Colvin, born 18th June 1922, died in October 2003, aged 81 years, Lambeth RD (London), register no. B65, district and sub-district nos. 241/1B. Original recordd: General Register Office, Southport. Index online at ancestry.ca (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-08-30).
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Telegraph, 8 October 2003. “John Colvin.” Digital copy online at www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1443501/John-Colvin.html (accessed 2018-08-30).
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. “John Colvin (diplomat.” Citing: (1) Australian Dictionary of Biography. (2) Oxford National Dictionary of Biography. (3) Colvin, Mark. “It’s not only double agents who lead double lives.” ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corporation] online. (4) Colvin, Mark. "Light and Shadow: Writing a Memoir to Understand a Father." ABC News, 31 October 2016. Online at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Colvin_(diplomat) (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-08-30).
  5. An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord, [1973]. John Horace Ragnar Colvin (pg 913). pub. J. Whitaker, 1973.

Acknowledgements

  • ... with thanks to Eric Daly for opening this profile page, 15 June 2015.

Links





Is John your relative? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon contact private message the profile manager, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of John's DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 1

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
Dear Alison

This profile has PPP but no project. I will arrange for the PPP to be removed. Please contact me if you believe that the profile requires PPP and it should be under the England Project.

Jo, England Project Managed Profiles Team coordinator

posted by Jo Fitz-Henry

Rejected matches › John S. Coleman Jr.