Leslie Alfred Charles Fry Explained

Sir Leslie Fry
Ambassador From:United Kingdom
Country:Hungary
Term Start:1955
Term End:1959
Predecessor:Sir George Labouchère
Successor:Sir Ivor Pink
Ambassador From2:United Kingdom
Country2:Indonesia
Term Start2:1959
Term End2:1963
Predecessor2:Dermot MacDermot
Successor2:Sir Andrew Gilchrist
Ambassador From3:United Kingdom
Country3:Brazil
Term Start3:1963
Term End3:1966
Predecessor3:Sir Geoffrey Wallinger
Successor3:Sir John Russell
Birth Date:1908 4, df=y
Nationality:British
Education:Royal Masonic School, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Profession:Diplomat and ambassador
Awards:KCMG

Sir Leslie Alfred Charles Fry (17 April 1908 – 21 October 1976) was a British diplomat, who served as Ambassador to Hungary, Indonesia and Brazil.[1] He was awarded Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross by the Government of Brazil. When the Soviet Union invaded Hungary in 1956 to repress the Hungarian Revolution, he opened the doors of the British embassy to Hungarian refugees, receiving a knighthood the following year.

Life

Leslie "Bunny" Fry was born in 1908 in Monmouthshire, Wales and christened in Jammu and Kashmir.

Fry's parents were Florence Rose Fry (née Stokes, 1882–1918) and Alfred Andrew Fry MBE (1870–1919). Leslie Fry's father was a Freemason[2] who prior to World War I had served in the South Wales Borderers as a Lieutenant and Quartermaster, Monmouthshire Regiment, 3rd Battalion, and during World War I as both a captain in the British Army, Monmouthshire Regiment, 3rd Battalion (Territorial) and a lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, 12th Wing.

Fry attended the Royal Masonic School and later graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[3]

Fry's first wife was Mary Cuerden, from whom he separated and remarried. Mary Cuerden's second husband was Captain Basil Gerritsen Ivory, formerly of the Special Operations Executive and director of the investment trust British Assets Trust Limited. Fry's second wife was Marian Bentley, whom he married in 1954.

British Army career

Fry joined the British Army in India from 1928. On 2 February 1928, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant, Indian Army.[4] In 1933, he transferred to the Indian Political Service. Between 1941 and 1944, he served as Undersecretary of the Government of India in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1946, he became Deputy Secretary of the Government of India in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Diplomatic career

On 23 June 1947, Fry joined His Majesty's Foreign Service at the Seventh Grade[5] [6] listed alongside his cousin, Robert Morton Saner OBE. On 30 October 1947, Fry transferred from the Indian Civil Service to the Foreign Office.[7] From 1951 to 1953, he served as Minister-Counsellor in Lisbon. Between 1953 and 1955, he was Head of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department.

On 24 October 1955, he was appointed Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Hungary.[8] On 11 February 1959, he was ambassador to Indonesia.[9] On 16 June 1963, he replaced Geoffrey Wallinger as ambassador to Brazil.[10]

Fry retired in 1966 and returned to Britain.

Awards and honours

Bibliography

Fry's memoirs, published in 1978:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fry, Major Sir Leslie Alfred Charles . WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO . Oxford University Press . 20 October 2018 . 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U154651 . December 2007.
  2. Library and Museum of Freemasonry; London, England; Freemasonry Membership Registers; Description: Membership Registers: Country K 816–940 to Country L 941–1013; Reel Number: 13
  3. Book: Great Britain. Foreign Office. The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book. 20 October 2018. 1963. Harrison and Sons. 212.
  4. Web site: No. 33510. 28 June 1929. The London Gazette.
  5. Web site: No. 38534. 8 February 1949. The London Gazette.
  6. Book: Gerhard Besier. 'Intimately Associated for Many Years': George K. A. Bell's and Willem A. Visser 't Hooft's Common Life-Work in the Service of the Church Universal – Mirrored in their Correspondence (Part Two 1950–1958). 20 October 2018. 25 November 2015. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 978-1-4438-8625-3. 1070.
  7. Web site: No. 38148. 16 December 1947. The London Gazette.
  8. Book: Chris Cook. The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources since 1945. 20 October 2018. 2 October 2012. Routledge. 978-1-136-50961-2. 76.
  9. Web site: No. 41676. 7 April 1959. The London Gazette.
  10. Web site: No. 43093. 27 August 1963. The London Gazette.
  11. Web site: No. 36309. 1 January 1944. The London Gazette.
  12. Web site: No. 38161. 30 December 1947. The London Gazette.
  13. Web site: No. 40497. 9 June 1955. The London Gazette.
  14. Web site: No. 41089. 13 June 1957. The London Gazette.

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