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Bede Clifford

British diplomat and colonial administrator (1890–1969)

Summary

British diplomat and colonial administrator (1890–1969)

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	Captain The Honourable Sir
name	Bede Clifford
honorific-suffix
image	Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford.jpg
office	Governor of The Bahamas
term_start	10 January 1932
term_end	1937
monarch	George V
primeminister	Ramsay MacDonald
predecessor	Sir Charles Orr
successor	Sir Charles Dundas
office1	Governor of Mauritius
term_start1	23 October 1937
term_end1	16 April 1942
monarch1	George VI
primeminister1	Neville Chamberlain
Winston Churchill
predecessor1	Sir Wilfrid Jackson
successor1	Sir Donald Mackenzie-Kennedy
office2	Governor of Trinidad and Tobago
term_start2	8 June 1942
term_end2	6 March 1947
monarch2	George VI
primeminister2	Winston Churchill
Clement Attlee
predecessor2	Sir Hubert Young
successor2	Sir John Shaw
birth_date
birth_place	New Zealand
death_date
death_place	Surrey, England
spouse
children	{{Plainlist
parents	{{Plainlist
alma_mater	{{Plainlist
occupation	Statesman

| honorific-prefix = Captain The Honourable Sir | honorific-suffix = Winston Churchill Clement Attlee

Anne Frances Mary Clifford
Patricia David Pandora Clifford
Alice Devin Atalanta Clifford}}
Lord Clifford of Chudleigh
Catherine Mary Bassett}}
Xavier College
University of Melbourne}}

Captain Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford (3 July 1890 – 6 October 1969) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator, born in New Zealand, where his parents had moved in an unsuccessful attempt at sheep-farming.

His parents were William Hugh Clifford, 10th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh and Catherine Mary Bassett. After New Zealand they moved to Tasmania; he did not attend a regular school until he was 10. He attended Xavier College, Melbourne where he was a gifted student. This was followed by study at Melbourne University, becoming a surveyor, then a merchant navy officer.

Career

After serving as an army captain in the Royal Fusiliers during World War I, where he gained the rank of Captain, he worked in imperial administration and diplomacy. From 1917 he was aide-de-camp, then Private Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia, Sir Ronald Ferguson. From 1921 to 1931, he was Secretary to the Governor-General of South Africa, first to Prince Arthur of Connaught and then to the Earl of Athlone.

In 1931, it was announced that Clifford would be appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahamas. He was later appointed the 24th Governor of Mauritius from 23 October 1937 to 16 April 1942. He then became Governor of Trinidad and Tobago from 1942 to 1947. and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Death

Sir Clifford passed on Oct 6, 1969, in Guildford, England. A funeral was held on October 9, 1969, at Saint Cyprian's Chapel, Ugbrooke, Chudleigh, Devon, England, followed by burial in the family vault in Ugbrooke House Chapel Crypt.

Family

Sir Clifford married Alice Devin Gundry on October 21, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was born on December 11, 1901, in Cleveland, Ohio, and passed on June 26th, 1980, in Westmoreland, England. Alice was the daughter of John Murten Gundry (1859-1939) and Francis Ruth Gilchrist (1875-1933). She was a third great-granddaughter of Col. David C. Chambers (1780-1864), a member of the 17th U.S. Congress.

Together had three daughters:

Anne Frances Mary Clifford, born on 5 January 1929, married John Julius Norwich, 2nd Viscount Norwich. They had two children: The Hon Alice Clare Antonia Opportune Clifford, later Artemis Cooper, the historian, who married Sir Antony Beevor; and Jason Charles Duff Bede Cooper, 3rd Viscount Norwich
Patricia David Pandora Clifford, born on 29 January 1930, married Timothy Angus Jones, son of Sir Roderick Jones and Enid Bagnold, and was the mother of Annabel Astor, Viscountess Astor and the grandmother of Samantha Cameron, wife of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron. She later married The Hon Michael Astor, son of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor. Patricia and Timothy have two Children: Annanel Lucy Veronica Jones and Alexander Roderick Jones.
Alice Devin Atalanta Clifford, born on 10 May 1932. She married Richard Fairey on 10 September 1955. He was the son of Sir Charles Richard Fairey and Henrietta Queenie Nicholson Markey. She married, secondly, W/Cdr. Timothy Ashmead Vigors, son of Captain Ludlow Ashmead Cliffe Vigors, on 31 October 1963. She and W/Cdr. Timothy Ashmead Vigors were divorced. She married, thirdly, Michael Henry Dennis Madden in 1972. Alice and Richard have one child: Leanda Alice Devin Joan Fairey. Alice and Timothy have one child: Thomas Ashmead Merton Vigors. Alice and Michael have one child: Henry George Bede Madden.

Honours

Clifford was appointed Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) on 18 August 1920 in recognition of his services in the Royal Fusiliers as Military Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia, which was presented to him by the then Prince of Wales during his visit to Australia. He was then made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) on 1 January 1924 in recognition of his services as Secretary to the Governor General of South Africa. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on 1 January 1931 in recognition of his services as Imperial Secretary to the South African High Commission and Representative in the Union of South Africa of the UK Government. As Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahama Islands, he was promoted to the rank of Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 3 June 1933. On 28 December 1944, he was appointed Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ). He was promoted to the rank of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) on 1 January 1945. He was also awarded the Legion of Merit by the United States.

[[File:UK Royal Victorian Order ribbon.svg	50px]]	Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO)	issue=9987	date=15 October 1920}}

References

"Past Governor of Trinidad and Tobago Sir Bede Clifford".
'CLIFFORD, Captain Hon. Sir Bede Edmund Hugh', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
[https://www.aspiringmindstandt.com/sir-bede-clifford Fuller bio than here]
(1932-12-22). "Xavier College Annual Speech Night". Advocate.
(1907-12-19). "ST. XAVIER'S COLLEGE.". Table Talk.
"Commonwealth Government Gazette".
(October 2023). "Bede Clifford]{{Dead link".
''[[Burke's Peerage]]'', vol. 1 (1999), p. 131; Melonie Clarke, Helena Gumley-Mason, "Samantha Cameron's Sari Diplomacy" in ''[[The Lady (magazine). The Lady]]'', 26 November 2013, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140525195032/http://www.lady.co.uk/people/profiles/3336-samantha-cameron-s-sari-diplomacy archived here]
''[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32086/page/9987/data.pdf]'', London Gazette, 15 October 1920
{{London Gazette. (4 January 1924)
{{London Gazette. (6 January 1931)
{{London Gazette. (6 June 1933)
{{London Gazette. (2 January 1945)
{{London Gazette. (29 December 1944)
{{London Gazette. (15 October 1920)

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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