William Quantrill

William Ernest Quantrill (4 May 1939 – 20 June 2025) was a British diplomat who served as Ambassador to Cameroon from 1991 to 1995.

Early life Quantrill was educated at Colston's School and Durham University, graduating with a first-class BA in French.

He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1962.

Career From 1964 to 1980 he served in several overseas posts in Belgium, Cuba, the Philippines, and Nigeria. From 1980 to 1981 he was Head of Training Department and from 1984 to 1988 was Counsellor and Head of Chancery at the British Embassy in Venezuela. Quantrill's tenure in Gibraltar coincided with a breakdown in relations between the Gibraltar and Spanish governments after a Gibraltarian court ordered the apprehension of four Spanish customs officials accused of illegal entry and illegal possession of arms. He held a crisis meeting in London with Nicholas Gordon-Lennox, the British Ambassador to Spain, on 29 July 1989.