Protection period to: 1990-12-31
Drummond, Sir James Eric, 16th Earl of Perth (born 17.08.1876, North Yorkshire - 15.12.1951), British Empire.
Drummond was the son of an old Scottish aristocratic family.
He was educated at Eton.
British diplomat and politician, Drummond was the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations (1919-33).
Career:
- 1900-1917 Member, British Foreign Office;
- 1919-1933 Secretary-General, League of Nations;
- 1933-1939 Ambassador to Rome;
- After 1939 Liberal politician.
Drummond entered the British Foreign Office in 1900. In 1906, he became private secretary to Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, the parliamentary undersecretary in the Foreign Office. In 1908 and again from 1010 to 1911, he was private secretary to Sir Edward Grey, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, as well as to Mr. Asquith, Prime Minister from 1912 to 1915. As private secretary (1915-1919) to Arthur J. Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Drummond accompanied the latter on his trip to the United States in 1917, and in 1918-1919, he was attached to the British delegation to the Peace Conference, where his knowledge of procedure and his grasp of detail won him a high reputation. After the names of various better-known political personalities had been proposed and then dropped, it was Drummond, the career civil servant, who was chosen as the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations.
Alongside with his broad activities on the international level, internal administrative matters occupied much of Drummond's time, especially those related to the budget, to plans for the new headquarters, building, committees and commissions. He generally supported staff members in their work, and, thus, established the groundwork for the concept of an international civil service which has been maintained by the United Nations.
In 1933, Drummond resigned as Secretary-General and became ambassador to Rome, Italy (1933-39). He succeeded to the Earldom of Perth in 1937 upon his father's death and entered the House of Lords.
In 1939, Drummond returned to Britain and following the outbreak of the Second World War he accepted the post of Chief Advisor on Foreign Publicity at the Ministry of Information (1939-40).
He was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 1947 until his death in 1951.
Published
Completed
Those of his papers that remained in Geneva were destroyed in 1940, and we have here only a few files that he took with him, later returned.
Protection period duration: 60
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Protection period to: 2029-05-31
Published
- Apr.-May 1969: Copie d'une lettre adressée par Frank Walters à Norman Field donnant des précisions sur sa responsabilité dans la destruction de certains papier de Drummond;
- Aug. 1919: Letter to G. Clerk referring to the Reports of the Committee to supervise the execution of the Treaty with Germany on Belgium and the Sarre Basin and Convocation of the Supreme Council by the President of the United States with the participation of the nine powers represented in the Council to legally and effectively constitute the Council.
Protection period duration: 60
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Protection period to: 1986-11-30
Published
Telegramme concerning possible transferring of the meeting of the Commission members from Paris to Geneva and resignation of Attolico as Secretary (de la Commission temporaire mixte pour la réduction des armements);
Record of interviews with
1) Gibson regarding Private Manufacture of Arms, preparatory Committee, Disarmament Conference
2) Winslow concerning the work of the preparatory Committee for the Disarmament Conference
3) Viscount Ischii re Disarmament Conference;
- March 1925: Note to Avenol, Mantoux and Salter re meeting with M. Nintchich and Disarmament Conference, Preparatory Committee, etc.;
- Apr. 1926: Correspondence with Esther, Viviani, L. Bourgeois, W.H.M. Selby, Cecil;
Memo for the American Ambassador re the Preparatory Committee.
Protection period duration: 60
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Protection period to: 1981-06-30
Published
Protection period duration: 60
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Protection period to: 1982-11-30
Published
Note de P. Mantoux sur la Convention des Iles d'Aaland et la question des détroits;
Letter to W. Tyrell re Straits Commission;
Note re possible bearing of the Convention in connection with the Straits.
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Protection period to: 1989-08-31
Published
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Protection period to: 1982-12-31
Published
Correspondence with Philip Kerr;
Record of interview with Prof. Askenazy (Nov. 1921) and Dr. von Simons (March 1922).
Protection period duration: 60
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Protection period to: 1990-12-31
Published
- Feb. 1928: Records of conversation with Dr. Benes re security report, security and disarmament;
Correspondence with W.H.M. Selby, J. Loudon, E. Colban;
- March 1929: Note re meeting with B. Stein;
- March 1929: Note to Colban re "Preparatory Disarmament Commission";
Notes re conversation with Weizaecker, Bernstorff, Massigli re "Preparatory Commission of the Disarmament Conference";
Note sur l'Organe du Conseil pour les questions du désarmement après la cessation des travaux de la Commission préparatoire;
- Apr. 1930: Notes sur la conversation avec Lord Cecil le 2 avril 1930 au sujet de l'Ordre du jour de la prochaine session de la "Commission préparatoire de la Conférence du désarmement".
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