Martin Buckmaster, 3rd Viscount Buckmaster
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = The Viscount Buckmaster
| honorific-suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100|OBE}}
| image =
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| order = 3rd
| office = Viscount Buckmaster
| term_start = 1974
| term_end = 2007
| predecessor = Owen Buckmaster
| successor = Adrian Buckmaster
| birth_name = Martin Stanley Buckmaster
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|4|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Paddington, London, England{{fact|date=September 2023}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|6|8|1921|4|11|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England{{fact|date=September 2023}}
| resting_place = St. Mary's Church, Brettenham
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| party = Crossbencher
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{{Infobox military person
|embed = yes
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears = 1939–1946
| rank = Captain
| servicenumber = 143728
| unit = Royal Sussex Regiment
| commands =
| battles = World War II
}}
}}
Martin Stanley Buckmaster, 3rd Viscount Buckmaster {{postnom|country=GBR|OBE}} (11 April 1921 – 8 June 2007) was a British hereditary peer and diplomat. He sat on the crossbenches in the House of Lords from 1974.
Early life and education
Buckmaster was the elder son of Owen Buckmaster, 2nd Viscount Buckmaster, a barrister and Lloyd's underwriter, and his first wife, Joan Simpson.{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=WanDHHFrhnX2DoFL81Kv4Q&scan=1|title=Index entry|accessdate=17 February 2021|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}} His grandfather was Stanley Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster, a barrister and Liberal MP who served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from 1913 to 1915 and was created 1st Viscount Buckmaster in 1915 when he became Lord Chancellor.
He was educated at Stowe School.
Military service
On the outbreak of World War II, Buckmaster joined the Royal Sussex Regiment straight from school. After receiving his commission in August 1940 he served in the Middle East and was granted the honorary rank of Captain when he relinquished his commission in June 1953.{{London Gazette |issue=34928 |date=20 August 1940 |page=5144 |supp=y}}{{London Gazette |issue=39882 |date=5 June 1953 |page=3208 |supp=y}}
Career
Buckmaster was demobilised in 1946 and joined the Foreign Office, using his experience of the Middle East to good effect. He was a political officer in Abu Dhabi from 1955 to 1958, and then First Secretary at the British embassy in Libya until 1963. After serving in Bahrain, he moved to Kampala to become First Secretary in Uganda from 1969 to 1971. He later served in Beirut and Yemen, retiring in 1981.
He succeeded to the viscountcy and barony upon his father's death in 1974 and took a seat on the crossbenches in the House of Lords. He spoke mainly on matters relating to the Middle East. He was vice-chairman of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding. A committed Christian, he also spoke on issues of public morality. He was a member of the Conservative Family Campaign and a patron of the Christian Broadcasting Council.
Buckmaster lost his seat in the House of Lords following the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999.
Honours
Buckmaster was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1979 Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=47869 |date=15 June 1979 |page=7 |supp=y}}
Death
Lord Buckmaster died in June 2007 at the age of 86. He was unmarried and was succeeded in the viscountcy and barony by his nephew, Adrian Buckmaster, son of his younger brother, Hon Colin John Buckmaster.
Arms
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = File:Coronet of a British Viscount.svgFile:Buckmaster Escutcheon.png
|escutcheon = Or semee of fleurs-de-lis Azure a lion rampant of the last on a chief of the second a portcullis of the first.
|crest = A demi-lion Azure holding in the dexter paw a fleur-de-lis and charged on the shoulder with a portcullis both Or.
|supporters = On either side a bulk Proper each gorged with a chain pendant therefrom a portcullis Or.
|motto = Equanimitas Magnanimitas (Equanimity, Magnanimity){{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2019 |page=1899}}}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1554422/Viscount-Buckmaster.html Viscount Buckmaster], obituary, The Telegraph, London, 14 June 2007
External links
- {{Hansard-contribs | mr-martin-buckmaster | the Viscount Buckmaster }}
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{{succession box | title=Viscount Buckmaster | before=Owen Buckmaster | after=Adrian Buckmaster | years=1974–2007}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckmaster, Martin Buckmaster, 3rd Viscount}}
Category:Diplomats for the United Kingdom
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:Royal Sussex Regiment officers
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:People educated at Stowe School
Category:British expatriates in the United Arab Emirates
Category:British expatriates in Libya
Category:British expatriates in Bahrain
Category:British expatriates in Uganda
Category:British expatriates in Lebanon