Sir Philip Nichols
KCMG MC
Philip Nichols in December 1951
UK Ambassador to the Netherlands
In office
1948–1952
MonarchGeorge VI
Preceded bySir Nevile Bland
Succeeded bySir Nevile Butler
UK Ambassador to Czechoslovakia
In office
1941–1947
Preceded byFrank Roberts (as chargé d'affaires)
Succeeded bySir Pierson Dixon
Personal details
Born
Philip Bouverie Bowyer Nichols

(1894-09-07)7 September 1894
Died6 December 1962(1962-12-06) (aged 68)
London, England
Spouse
Phyllis Mary Spender-Clay
​
​
(m. 1932)​
Children4
Parent(s)Bowyer Nichols
Catherine Bouverie-Pusey
EducationEton College
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford

Sir Philip Bouverie Bowyer Nichols KCMG MC (7 September 1894 – 6 December 1962) was an English diplomat who served as Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands

Early life

Lawford Hall

Nichols was born on 7 September 1894. He was the younger son of the former and Catherine Louisa Bouverie-Pusey and the poet and artist John Bowyer Buchanan Nichols of Lawford Hall, Essex.[1] Among his siblings was Robert Nichols, poet and dramatist and sisters, Irene, who married Sir George Gater, and Anne, who married Henry Strauss, 1st Baron Conesford.[2]

His paternal grandfather was the editor and writer Francis Morgan Nichols, and was paternally descended from the printer and writer John Bowyer Nichols, author of Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century.[2] His maternal grandparents were Capt. Edward Bouverie-Pusey (a grandson of Hon. Philip Bouverie-Pusey) and Esther Elliot Hales (a daughter of Rev. Richard Hales).[3]

Nichols was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford.

Career

Nichols "served for two years in New Zealand giving advice and helping train a diplomatic service there.[4] He was ambassador to the Czechoslovak government-in-exile" in London during World War II,[5] and went to Prague in 1945 to "continue his duties."[6] In 1948, he was appointed Ambassador to the Netherlands,[7][5] serving until his retirement late in 1951.[8][9]

Personal life

On 6 February 1932, at the age of 38, was married to Phyllis Mary Spender-Clay (1905–1972)[10] in Dormansland. Phyllis was the eldest daughter of Herbert Spender-Clay, MP and the former Pauline Astor. Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor.[11] Her younger sister Rachel married Sir David Bowes-Lyon, brother of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. They lived at Lawford Hall, Manningtree, Essex and he was interested in "forestry, farming, opera and ballet."[8] Together, they were the parents of two daughters and two sons, including:[1]

  • Anne Nichols, who married William Charlton, a son of Lancelot Charlton of London and a grandson of Mrs. Percy Byron of New York and Darien in 1959.[12]

Sir Philip died on 6 December 1962 in London at the age of 68 and he was buried at St Mary's, Lawford.[8] His widow died in London on 5 January 1972.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Townend, Peter. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edition. 3 volumes. London, England: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965-1972, volume 1, page 530.
  2. 1 2 "Obituary: Mr. Bowyer Nichols – Artist and Man of Letters". The Times. 3 June 1939. p. 17.
  3. ↑ G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 290.
  4. ↑ Bruegel, J. W. (21 June 1973). Czechslovkia Before Munich: The German Minority Problem and British Appeasement Policy. CUP Archive. ISBN 978-0-521-08687-5. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 "NICHOLS, Sir Philip Bouverie Bowyer". Who Was Who. A & C Black. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  6. ↑ Lukes, Igor (8 May 2012). On the Edge of the Cold War: American Diplomats and Spies in Postwar Prague. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-993914-5. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Previous ambassadors to the Netherlands". Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  8. 1 2 3 "Sir Philip Nichols, Diplomat In Prague and The Hague". The New York Times. 8 December 1962. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  9. ↑ Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948: The Far East and Australasia. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1976. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  10. ↑ "Phyllis (née Spender-Clay), Lady Nichols - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  11. ↑ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (16 February 1937). "H. H. SPENDER - CLAY, M. P. 26 YEARS, DEADD; Husband of Former Pauline Astor, Daughter of the First Viscount". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  12. ↑ "Miss Anne Nichols Proxpective Bride". The New York Times. 19 July 1959. Retrieved 21 January 2022.

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