Hugh Stonehewer Bird

Sir Francis Hugh William Stonehewer Bird (13 November 1891 – 7 December 1973) was a British diplomat who served as minister to Saudi Arabia from 1940 to 1943, and ambassador to Iraq from 1945 to 1948.

Early life and education

Stonehewer Bird was born on 13 November 1891, the son of Frank Stonehewer Bird. He was educated at Berkhamsted School and Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Career

Stonehewer Bird was appointed a student interpreter in the Levant Consular Service in 1913, and a consular assistant in 1915. For the next ten years, he served at Jassy, Bucharest, Belgrade, Mogador, and Rabat where he was promoted to vice-consul. In 1927, he was appointed consul and agent at Jedda before he was transferred to Casablanca in 1930, and then to Rabat in 1936. After serving two years as consul-general in the French zone of Morocco at Rabat, he was appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Iraq in 1945, a post he held until his retirement in 1948.

Personal life and death

Stonehewer Bird married Francoise Laczynski in 1918, and they had a son and a daughter. and promoted to Knight Commander (KCMG) in 1945. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1929 Birthday Honours.