John Charles Moir Mason was born on 13th May 1927 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. He was the son of Charles Mason, a senior lecturer in engineering at Manchester University, and Madeline Finlayson. [1] He was educated at Manchester Grammar School.
He enlisted in the British Army at seventeen, towards the end of the Second World War. Eighteen months later, as a Second Lieutenant, he was sent to India during the final year of the Raj. John won a scholarship to study history at Peterhouse, Cambridge.[2] After graduating, he fought in Korea with the Royal Ulster Rifles. He survived nine months of appalling conditions against great odds: of his battalion of about 600 men, 95 were listed as killed or missing.
In 1952, John joined the Foreign Office, later Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service. Eighteen months later he was posted to Rome. Whilst there, in 1954, John married Margaret Vidgen, who he had met in 1949 whilst he was visiting Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, Italy.
The next posting was to Cold War Warsaw, where John gained a reputation for his canny reporting of Poland's political and economic situation. After two years back in London the Masons went to Damascus in 1962.
He became director of Britain's trade development office in New York, then head of the European Integration Department in London. From 1976 to 1980 he was the British Ambassador to Israel in Tel Aviv. In March 1980 he was created Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG). He was appointed British High Commissioner to Australia from April 1980 to 1984.
At the end of his Australian term, John and his wife remained in Australia where they took up citizenship in 1987. In Australia John worked as a business executive.
Aged eighty years, he passed away on 16th March 2008 in Sydney, New South Wales. A memorial service was held in St James' Anglican Church, Sydney. [3] He was survived by Margaret, their daughter Caroline, son David and his elder sister, Mary Mason.
See also:
M > Mason > John Charles Moir Mason
Categories: Manchester Grammar School | British Army Officers | University of Cambridge | Royal Ulster Rifles | British Diplomats | Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George | St James' Anglican Church, Sydney, New South Wales