Cicely Mayhew

Cicely Elizabeth Mayhew, Baroness Mayhew (née Ludlam; 16 February 1924 – 8 July 2016) was a British diplomat. She was the second woman to work for the British Foreign Office, and its first female diplomat.

Early life She was born on 16 February 1924. Her father, G.S Ludlam, was a metallurgist and artisanal miner who made his money in copper in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. She grew up in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Her formal education was interrupted for two years while she and her mother accompanied her father on prospecting expeditions in Tanzania and Uganda, helping him to pan for gold near Entebbe.

Personal life In 1949 she married Christopher Mayhew, the politician, broadcaster and writer, whom she met when they were both in the diplomatic service, and they had two sons and two daughters. He died in 1997.

She spent her later years in a care home in Wimbledon, The theatre was named after Mayhew following a vote amongst Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff in which she was the runaway winner.

Published works