Thomas Eardley Bromley
Sir Thomas Bromley KCMG (14 December 1911 – 18 June 1987) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to Somalia, Syria, Algeria and Ethiopia.
Career
Thomas Eardley Bromley was educated at Rugby School and Magdalen College, Oxford. He joined the British Consular Service in 1935 and was a vice-consul in Japan from 1938[1] until 1941 when Japan entered World War II. He then returned to London and after the war served at Washington, D.C., and Baghdad.
Bromley was the first Ambassador to the then Somali Republic after independence on 1 July 1960,[2] then ambassador to Syria 1962–64[3] following its secession from the United Arab Republic, then ambassador to Algeria from 1964[4] until Algeria, along with other members of the OAU, broke off diplomatic relations in December 1965 over Rhodesia. Bromley's last ambassadorship was to Ethiopia 1966–69.[5] In 1968, while addressing a gathering of 2,000 university students in Addis Ababa, he was stoned by demonstrators against the Smith regime in Rhodesia.[6]
Family
In 1944 Bromley married Diana Pratt, daughter of Sir John Pratt, also a diplomat, and niece of the actor Boris Karloff whose real name was William Henry Pratt. In 1958 she killed their two sons and attempted suicide;[7] she was declared insane. He divorced her and later married Alison Toulmin (née Coutts), the first wife of Professor Stephen Toulmin.
In its obituary of Bromley, The Times said "Tom Bromley was a cultured, sensitive and intensely private man. ... Inevitably, with his wife committed to custody, he withdrew from society but was able to go on to occupy more ambassadorial posts than are given to most diplomats."[8]
Honours
Thomas Bromley was appointed CMG in the 1955 Birthday Honours[9] and knighted KCMG in the 1964 Birthday Honours.[10]
References
- BROMLEY, Sir Thomas Eardley, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, April 2014
- ↑ The London Gazette, 12 May 1939
- ↑ The London Gazette, 5 May 1961
- ↑ The London Gazette, 16 March 1962
- ↑ The London Gazette, 6 November 1964
- ↑ The London Gazette, 16 December 1966
- ↑ Africans pelt British envoys, The Times, London, 13 March 1968, page 1
- ↑ Mother Accused Of Double Murder, The Times, London, 19 February 1959, page 6
- ↑ Sir Thomas Bromley (obituary), The Times, London, 20 June 1987, page 12
- ↑ The London Gazette, 9 June 1955
- ↑ The London Gazette, 13 June 1964
External links
- Portraits of Thomas Eardley Bromley (1911-1987), Ambassador at the National Portrait Gallery, London
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Mogadishu 1960–1961 |
Succeeded by Lancelot Pyman |
| Preceded by no ambassador |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Damscus 1962–1964 |
Succeeded by Trefor Ellis Evans |
| Preceded by Trefor Ellis Evans |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Algiers 1964–1965 |
Succeeded by no ambassador |
| Preceded by Sir John Russell |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Addis Ababa 1966–1969 |
Succeeded by Alan Campbell |