Harold Farquhar

Sir Harold Lister Farquhar was a British diplomat who served as Minister to the Ethiopian Empire from 1946 to 1948 and Ambassador to Sweden from 1948 to 1951.

Early life and education

Farquhar was born on 15 April 1894, the son of Ernest Farquhar of Whiteway House, Devon. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Farquhar served in World War I in Europe with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the Life Guards and Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards and was awarded the Military Cross. After the War, he served with the rank of Captain on the general staff of the Army of Occupation from 1918 to 1922.
Farquhar entered the Diplomatic Service in 1922. He served in British missions in Warsaw, Madrid, Budapest, Rome, Mexico, Bucharest, Cairo and Tehran. After being posted to the Foreign Office in 1939, he served as Consul-General at Barcelona from 1941 to 1945, and Minister to the Ethiopian Empire at Addis Ababa from 1946 to 1948. He served as British Ambassador to Sweden from 1948 until 1951 when he retired from the post due to ill health.

Farquhar married Constance Capell in 1917 and they had two sons.
Farquhar died on 31 January 1953, at Market Harborough, Leicestershire, aged 58.

Farquhar was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1945 New Year Honours, and promoted to Knight Commander in the 1950 New Year Honours. In the 1919 Birthday Honours, he was awarded the Military Cross in connection with military operations in France and Flanders.