HENDERSON, (John) Nicholas 1919-

PERSONAL: Born April 1, 1919, in England; son of Hubert Henderson; married Mary Barber Cawadias, 1951; children: Alexandra (Viscountess Moore). Education: Hertford College, Oxford, M.A. Hobbies and other interests: Tennis, gardening, dogs.

ADDRESSES: Home—6 Fairholt St., London SW7 1EG, England. Office—Hambros Bank Ltd., 41 Bishopsgate, London EC2P 2AA, England. Agent—Curtis Brown, 162-168 Regent St., London W1R 5TA, England.

CAREER: British Diplomatic Service, London, England, worked in office of the minister of state in Cairo, Egypt, 1942-43, assistant private secretary to the foreign secretary, 1944-47, member of embassy staff in Washington, DC, 1947-49, and Athens, Greece, 1949-50, assigned to Foreign Office department of the permanent under secretary, 1950-53, member of embassy staff in Vienna, Austria, 1953-56, and Santiago, Chile, 1956-59, assigned to Foreign Office, Northern Department, 1959-62, and to department of the permanent under secretary, 1962-63, head of Northern Department, 1963, private secretary to the secretary of state for foreign affairs, 1963-65, foreign minister in Madrid, Spain, 1965-69, ambassador to Poland, 1969-72, West Germany, 1972-75, France, 1975-79, and the United States, 1979-82. Chair of Channel Tunnel Group; member of boards of directors of Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust, Mercantile and General Reinsurance Co., and Hambros PLC, all 1982—, Tarmac PLC, 1983—, and Foreign and Colonial Eurotrust Ltd.

MEMBER: Brooks's Club, Garrick Club, Beefsteak Club, Pratt's Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: Order of St. Michael and St. George, Companion, 1965, Knight Commander, 1972, Knight Grand Cross, 1977; honorary fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, 1975.

WRITINGS:

Prince Eugen of Savoy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, (London, England), 1964, Sterling (New York, NY), 2002.

The Birth of NATO, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, (London, England), 1982.

The Private Office, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, (London, England), 1984.

Inside the Private Office: Memoirs of the Secretary to British Foreign Ministers, Academy Chicago Publishers (Chicago, IL), 1987.

Mandarin: The Diaries of an Ambassador, 1969-1982, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, England), 1994.

Old Friends and Modern Instances, Profile Books (London, England), 2000.

Contributor of articles and stories to magazines, including Horizon, Apollo, Country Life, Economist, and History Today.

SIDELIGHTS: Sir Nicholas Henderson was born into a life of privilege in 1919. He attended Oxford University, served in the armed forces, and then embarked on a political career as a diplomat and ambassador for Britain. He has also served as private secretary to several foreign secretaries, which prompted his book The Private Office. In this memoir, Henderson gives an inside look at the Foreign Secretaries' private office. Through anecdotes and entertaining stories, the author helps the reader understand how foreign policy works. George Walden of the Sunday Telegraph stated that the book "contains wise thoughts . . . couched in elegant prose and seasoned by diverting tales." Walden also called the memoir "highly entertaining."

Henderson continued writing his memoirs with his 1994 book Mandarin: The Diaries of an Ambassador, 1969-1982. Peter Madgewick of Parlimentary Affairs felt that this book stands out among political memoirs because instead of a compilation of sketchy notes taken at meetings, it is a collection of "carefully wrought essays reflecting embassy life, diplomacy, entertainment, [and] visiting politicians." Madgewick also noted that it is "an elegant and witty book, a treat for the jaded reader of political memoir."

In 2000, Henderson published a book called Old Friends and Modern Instances. Once he retired from the international and travel part of his career, he decided to focus on more personal aspects. Henderson created a collection of stories and recollections about a variety of people he had met throughout his life, including educators, writers and political figures. As he told Selina Hastings of the Sunday Telegraph, "[I have] always been interested in how people seek pleasure and spend their spare time." Hastings noted that Henderson "writes with point and elegance," and that the short book "makes a vivid impression of a much longer work." Philip Ziegler of the Daily Telegraph felt that Henderson "provides an affectionate and admiring picture of the men and women who inhabited [his] patrician world." Ray Seitz, a critic for the Times, called it "a fragrant bouquet of reminiscences."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Daily Telegraph, November 4, 2000, Philip Ziegler, "Whiggy With It," March 30, 2002, Nicholas Henderson, "The Political Front."

Parlimentary Affairs, April, 1996, Peter Madgewick, review of Mandarin, p. 368.

Spectator, November 17, 2001, Douglas Hurd, review of The Private Office Revisited, p. 50.

Sunday Telegraph, October 22, 2000, Selina Hastings, "A Diplomatic Corps of Friends"; November 11, 2001, George Walden, "Foreign Affairs Revisited."

Times (London, England), October 25, 1984; November 15, 2000, Ray Seitz, "Nicholas's Friends," p.13.

Times Literary Supplement, May 31, 1985; January 11, 2002, John Ure, review of The Private Office, p. 27.*