Sir James Alexander Milne Marjoribanks (29 May 1911 – 29 January 2002) was a Scottish career diplomat in the British Foreign Service and became British ambassador to the European Economic Community. He presented Britain's application to join the European Community in 1967 and was instrumental in this application becoming successful.
Background and family life James Marjoribanks was born in Colinton manse, in south-west Edinburgh on 29 May 1911, the third son of Elizabeth Logan and Rev Dr Thomas Marjoribanks, a minister in the (presbyterian) Church of Scotland.“Sir James Marjoribanks” (Obituary), The Independent, 4 February 2002. Retrieved 3 October 2008."Obituary – Sir James Marjoribanks – Diplomat who handed over Britain's successful application to the EEC", The Times, 8 February 2002. His father and his brother William were respectively heads of the lowland Marjoribanks family.Marjoribanks, Roger (Editor). The Marjoribanks Journal Number 2, January 1994. Retrieved 26 October 2009Clan Marjoribanks web site accessed 29 April 2010 He was schooled at Merchiston Castle School and Edinburgh Academy.
In order to prepare for his entrance to the University of Edinburgh, where he was to study modern languages, he spent 1927–28 in Paris and the Convitto Maschile Valdese in Torre Pellice, Italy”Portrait Gallery: Sir James Alexander Milne Marjoribanks KCMG, director of the Distillers Company Limited", The DCL Gazette, p. 6, April 1974 Biography of Sir James in the house journal of The Distillers Company where he became fluent in Italian. This was to prove useful to him later. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first class honours Master of Arts (Scotland)"James Marjoribanks" (Obituary), The Herald (Glasgow), 1 February 2002. in 1932, and then studied German further in Bonn and Tübingen, Germany. He stayed for four months with a German newspaper proprietor's family which coincided with the accession to power of Adolf Hitler in January 1933. Marjoribanks noted that the general attitude was "We’ve tried everything else, so we might as well try Adolf. If he’s no good we’ll get rid of him". But, he also noted, it wasn't as easy as that. After the war, Marjoribanks discovered that a bomb had destroyed both the house and the parents. Two of the three sons had died on the Eastern Front.
Marjoribanks passed the British Foreign Service (later called the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) exams in 1933 and was posted to China in 1934. “Sir James Marjoribanks” (Obituary), The Scotsman, 4 February 2002. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
Diplomatic life
China (1934–1938) Marjoribanks was first appointed probationary Vice-Consul in the British Chinese Consular Service in Peking and took up his post on 12 January 1935."The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book 1965", Page 310, Warrison and Sons Ltd., London He spent much of his first two years in China learning Mandarin, which he quickly spoke fluently, much to the admiration of his colleagues.
At a consular cocktail party, he was asked by the first secretary to mix the cocktails beforehand. Since Marjoribanks had grown up in a Scottish manse in the 1920s he knew nothing about mixing cocktails. So he liberally added portions from all the bottles of drinks available into the cocktail bowl. The cocktail was a great success. Afterwards, the first secretary said "Devilishly good cocktail, James!" and asked for the recipe. Marjoribanks replied gravely that the recipe was a "family secret!”Denman, Roy. “Sir James Marjoribanks – British diplomat with an early vision of his country's role in Europe” (Obituary), The Guardian, 5 February 2002. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
He had become engaged to Sonya Stanley Alder (sister of the portrait painter and author Vera Stanley Alder) in the UK and was allowed to send for her at the end of his two years probationary period. Sonya and James were married in the embassy chapel on 29 December 1936.Copy "Cons. KA 4735/ Application Number P.A.S.101622/67/F" of Marriage Certificate in the District of the British Consul at Peking. Copy obtained from General Register House, Somerset House, London, UK The British ambassador, Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen (who later, as ambassador to Turkey, was notorious because of the German spy "Cicero" Elyesa Bazna) gave the bride away.”At Yesterday’s Wedding", The Peiping Chronicle, 30 December 1936, description of the wedding of James Marjoribanks and Sonya Stanley-Alder at the British Embassy in Peking. They were married until Sonya's death in 1981.
On 6 March 1938, Marjoribanks was appointed Vice-Consul in Hankou where the Chiang Kai-shek government had set up its temporary headquarters after the fall of Nanjing. James noted that one of the last dispatches the Chinese government received in Nanjing from the British Embassy while the city was already burning and the Rape of Nanjing was taking place, was that "In future the import of grey squirrels into the United Kingdom is forbidden". There was a courteous acknowledgement from the Chinese Foreign office with an assurance that the information had been referred to the appropriate department. Hankou in turn became a very dangerous place after the rest of the British diplomatic staff left and the Japanese army occupied the city.“Sir James Marjoribanks” (Obituary), The Daily Telegraph, 1 February 2002. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
Marjoribanks helped several vulnerable Chinese friends escape but the cruelty of the Japanese occupation of Hankou left an indelible memory with him for the rest of his life. One of his motivations for his enthusiastic support for the European Community in later life was his memory of the horrors of war in Hankou. He escaped by plane from Hankou disguised as an Italian marine where his fluent Italian came in useful.
France (1939–1940) On 27 September 1939 Marjoribanks was posted as Vice-Consul to Marseille, France. After the Fall of France, Marjoribanks was part of the negotiations with the Vichy France Government on the role of the French fleet under Admiral Darlan. The Royal Navy destroyed much of this fleet near Oran in 1940. Marjoribanks was also heavily involved in the evacuation of Marseille.
United States (1940–1944) Marjoribanks next posting on 30 November 1940 was as Consul General to Jacksonville, Florida, United States,"Meade Greets His Successor As British Consul in Jax", Jacksonville Journal, 30 November 1940 Marjoribanks takes over his new consular post where he emphasised Britain's determination to fight on and encouraged the Americans to become more active in the war.”British Won’t Give Up, Says New Consul", Jacksonville Journal, 20 November 1940”No Defeatism in Britain Today Consul from Jacksonville Says", The Valdosta Times, 10 March 1941 Marjoribanks Interview in Valdosta, Georgia His personal experience of Japanese and German aggression was very valuable to him when arguing the case for Britain. He came to know the Duke of Windsor who was governor of the Bahamas at that time.”Windsors Drop in on Miami – Royal Couple Welcome", Miami Daily News, 23 September 1941. Marjoribanks welcomes the Duke and Duchess of Windsor On 13 October 1942 Marjoribanks was moved to New York for two years where he was part of the diplomatic effort to work on the British "special relationship" with the American Government.
Romania (1944–1945) In July 1944, Marjoribanks was sent as Political Representative and Consul to Bucharest, Romania, where he added the Romanian language to the long list of languages he could speak fluently. At that time, King Michael I of Romania had ousted the pro-Nazi dictator Ion Antonescu and Romania had become one of countries on the Allied side fighting the Axis. The Russians entered the country and imposed their own communist puppet regime under Petru Groza. In 1945, Marjoribanks gave the ousted head of the government, General Nicolae Rădescu sanctuary in the British legation and got him out of the country. Marjoribanks thus acquired knowledge of the way the Soviets work. This helped him in his next posting to the Council of Foreign Ministers, where the new European boundaries were being decided.
Council of Foreign Ministers (1945–1947) The British Foreign Office in 1945, appointed Marjoribanks to represent Britain at the Council of Foreign Ministers which was intended to settle territorial questions and conclude post-war peace treaties. The Ministers met in London”The Meeting of Foreign Ministers in London", The Times , page 1, 26 November 1947 and Moscow in 1945 and in Paris in 1946 but difficulties in negotiating with the Russians became apparent. Marjoribanks was as a member of a four-man international team that obtained agreement on redrawing the Franco-Italian border.
Austrian State Treaty (1947–1950) In November 1947, Marjoribanks was next appointed to be Deputy to the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Ernest Bevin at the Council of Foreign Ministers with responsibility for representing Britain at the peace treaty negotiations for Austria. It was a protracted process."Austrian Treaty Nearer – Compromise on Oil", The Times, 6 May 1948, Marjoribanks offered to meet Soviet proposals on oil exploration rights and production but hopes of completing the Treaty in 1948 were later dashed The negotiations became particularly difficult when Russia started the Berlin Blockade which lead to the Berlin Airlift and the Partition of Germany. When the German peace talks at the Council foundered due to Soviet intransigence in 1947, Marjoribanks and his colleagues"Big Four's No. 2s Meet", The Star (London), Page 1, 9 February 1949, Marjoribanks, Zarubin (Russia), Reber (United States) and Berthelot (France) meet in London. requested that the Austrian treaty negotiators be allowed to continue which was accepted.Cullis, Michael: "The Austrian Treaty settlement", Review of International Studies, Vol.7, p161, 1981 To the credit of these negotiators, the talks continued until, after Stalin's death, the Russians signed the Austrian State Treaty, withdrew from the country and Austria remained outside the Iron Curtain. This was a rare example of the Soviets withdrawing from occupied territories after the war. The Foreign Service now began to take more notice of this talented diplomat.
Australia (1950–1952) Marjoribanks became ill with blood poisoning, was promoted to Counsellor and seconded to the British Commonwealth Relations Office posted on 12 January 1950 to Canberra, Australia. He worked there as Official Secretary to the British High Commission.
Luxembourg (1952–1955) Marjoribanks then had several important European postings, which were the culmination of his diplomatic career. On 31 August 1952 he was appointed Deputy Head of the British delegation to the European Coal and Steel Community in Luxembourg. This was the forerunner of the European Economic Community and European Union. The head of the delegation was a fellow Scot, the businessman Sir Cecil Weir.Denman, Roy (1997), ‘'Missed Chances. Britain and Europe in the Twentieth Century'’, p. 191. Indigo Cassell Group, London. Marjoribanks became convinced here that the future for Europe was in closer integrationMonnet, Jean (1978). ‘'Memoirs'’, p. 378. Collins Ltd., London. but the political will did not exist in London.Spierenberg, Dirk and Poidevin, Raymond (1994), ‘'The History of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community. Supranationality in Operation'’, p 204. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. , Weir and Marjoribanks had secret talks with Monnet, Spierenberg and others on a possible association with Britain but this came to nought