Sir Paul Gore-Booth
“Those who rule with wisdom guiding Bring to hearts a peace abiding Bless a land with joy made bright.”
Sir Paul Gore Booth was Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office (1965- 1969) & Head of HM Diplomatic Service, (1968–69). His was a distinguished diplomatic career, acknowledged & commemorated in many ways as recounted by his daughter Joanna Teverson below.
‘With great truth & respect’ is the title of the memoir written by my father about his career in the Diplomatic Service. It is the phrase used at the end of a formal dispatch from the Secretary of State to an Ambassador abroad. I feel it describes the career of my father, Paul Gore- Booth. He dedicated his life to serving his country & its interests at home and overseas. His final post was as Permanent Under Secretary having served in Japan, the USA, Myanmar & India. It was as PUS that he used the Black Box, the Scatola Nera (It.) as he called it.
“Both of us had homework "
It was a constant part of our family life. I remember that its presence on the hall chair was a sign that he was home. Part of the Box’s fascination was that the handle was on the opposite side from the lock, which could only be opened with a little silver key. I was a teenager at the time & both of us had ‘homework.’ My father would disappear every night after supper to go through the enormous numbers of papers placed in it each day for him to read. On his retirement, he was delighted to be able to keep the Box. It was used to store family documents. After my mother’s death it came to me.
On his retirement in 1969, my father was made a Life Peer. He found his time as a cross bencher in the House of Lords stimulating and fascinating. I would go & listen to the debates & be seated in the ‘Unmarried daughters of Peers’ area’! On becoming Lord Gore-Booth of Maltby, my father received a Red Box containing the Letters Patent affixed with the Great Seal of the Realm.
“The Boxes represent part of our family’s history ̋
With the Black Box, we now had a Red Box. It came to me in a terrible condition. The Boxes represent part of our family’s history. My brother David also served in the Diplomatic Service in the Middle East & India. I feel the Boxes should be preserved for future generations. I am delighted that Barrow Hepburn Gale has agreed to restore them.’
Joanna Teverson (née Joanna Gore-Booth)
Sir Paul appeared on BBC Radio 4’Desert Island Discs on the 13 November 1968. Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘’Sheep may safely graze’’ (from Cantata No. 208) was one of the eight mandatory pieces of music chosen by Sir Paul. The title for Joanna Teverson’s tribute to her father is taken from Bach’s Cantata.
