Reader Bullard

Sir Reader William Bullard
KCB KCMG CIE
British Ambassador to Iran
In office
1942–1946
Preceded by Sir Horace Seymour
Succeeded by Sir John Le Rougetel
Personal details
Born (1885-12-05)5 December 1885
Walthamstow, Essex, England
Died 24 May 1976(1976-05-24) (aged 90)
Wantage, Oxfordshire, England
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Miriam Catherine Smith (m.1921)
Children 5 (4 sons, 1 daughter)
Parents Charles Bullard
Mary Westlake
Relatives Sir Giles Bullard, son
Sir Julian Bullard, son
Alma mater Queens’ College, Cambridge
Occupation Diplomat and author

Sir Reader William Bullard KCB KCMG CIE (5 December 1885 – 24 May 1976) was a British diplomat and author.[1]

Education

Reader Bullard was born in Walthamstow, the son of Charles, a dock labourer, and Mary Bullard. He was educated at the Bancroft's School, Woodford Green, northeast London, and spent two years studying at Queens' College, Cambridge.[2] He entered the Levant (Western Asia) Consular Service of the Foreign Office in 1906.

Career

He held various diplomatic positions during his career:[3]

In Eastern Approaches, Fitzroy Maclean describes how Bullard and General Joseph Baillon, the Chief of Staff, requested him to kidnap a powerful Persian. They were concerned about the influence of Fazlollah Zahedi, the general in charge of the Persian forces in the Isfahan area, who, their intelligence told them, was stockpiling grain, liaising with German agents, and preparing an uprising. Baillon and Bullard asked Maclean to remove Zahidi alive and without creating a fuss, and so he did so. (Zahidi spent the rest of the war in British Palestine; five years later he was back in charge of the military of southern Persia, by 1953 he was prime minister.)[4]

In 1951, Bullard became Director of the Institute of Colonial Studies in Oxford.[5] In 1953, he became a member of the governing body of School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Bullard was appointed Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1916, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1933, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1936, and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1944.[2] He was an Honorary Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, SOAS in London, and Lincoln College, Oxford.

Personal life

In 1921, Reader Bullard married Miriam Catherine (Biddy), née Smith, daughter of the historian Arthur Lionel Smith, Master of Balliol College, Oxford.[5] They had four sons and one daughter, including the diplomats Sir Giles Bullard (1926–1992) and Sir Julian Bullard (1928–2006).

Bullard retired in 1946. Towards the end of his life he lived in Plantation Road, North Oxford, England.[6] Bullard's papers have been archived by St Antony's College, Oxford.[3]

Works

Bullard published a number of books,[7] including Britain and the Middle East (1951) and his autobiography The Camels Must Go: An Autobiography (Faber, 1961). The diaries that he kept during his time in the Soviet Union were published posthumously, under the title Inside Stalin's Russia (Day Books, 2000).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lambton, Ann K. S. (1977). "Obituary: Sir Reader William Bullard". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 40 (1): 130–134. JSTOR 615828.
  2. 1 2 "Bullard, Sir Reader William". The Concise Dictionary of National Biography: Volume I, A–F. Oxford University Press. 1992. p. 387.
  3. 1 2 "Sir Reader Bullard Collection" (PDF). GB165-0042. St Antony's College, Oxford, UK. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  4. ↑ Maclean, Fitzroy (1949). Eastern Approaches.
  5. 1 2 "Bullard, Sir Reader (William)". Who's Who, 1956 (108th ed.). London: Adam and Charles Black. 1956. p. 408.
  6. ↑ "Plantation Road". Kelly's Directory of Oxford (68th ed.). Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey: Kelly's Directories. 1976. pp. 422–423.
  7. ↑ "Books by Reader Bullard". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
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