![]() In 1962 Stevens published 'The Land of the Great Sophy' (reprinted 1971). Stevens held the following positions: Secretary of British Civil Secretariat, Washington, 1944-1946, at the Foreign Office, 1946-1948, Assistant Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office, 1948-1951, British Ambassador Sweden, 1951-1954, British Ambassador to Persia, 1954-1958, Deputy Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office, 1958-1963, and Advisor to First Secretary of State on Central Africa, 1963-1970. In 1931 he married Constance Hallam Hipwell (died 1976) and they had a son. In 1928 he entered the Consular Service and served in Buenos Aires, New York, Antwerp, Denver, and the Foreign Office. Two interesting items in the collection are Sir Roger's account of the attacks on British ships at Alicante and of the events in Valencia when he spent a brief period there during the Spanish Civil War (STVS 1/25) and the correspondence and notes he was compiling on Sir William Strang (STVS 10) with a view to writing his biography shortly before his own death in 1980. However the bulk of the material of this later period relates to his membership of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal (UNAT), including several judgements delivered by this body. There are in the collection some letters, press cuttings and speeches relating to Sir Roger's Vice-Chancellorship of Leeds University (STVS 11) and also copies of reports by a number of committees to which he belonged after his retirement from the Foreign Office. The collection also includes speeches, notes, book reviews, lectures and articles written by Stevens after his retirement from the Foreign Office on topics including the Middle East, Iran and Persia (STVS 9). This also includes photographs taken throughout Stevens' life of his youth, his diplomatic role as Ambassador to Sweden and Persia, his role as Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University and his later life. These documents are complemented by the many photographs Sir Roger took whilst travelling Persia which depict the people, art, architecture and scenery of the country (STVS 12). From his time as Ambassador to Persia, Sir Roger gained a passionate interest in the people, art and history of that country and the collection contains the notes he used in writing two books on Persia, "The Land of the Great Sophy" and a work on seventeenth century European travellers in Persia originally entitled "Persian Bandwagon" but renamed by Sir Roger after the revolution which overthrew the Shah as "First View of Persia". An interesting example is Sir Roger's diary from 1962 (STVS 8/25 b) which documents his tour of South Africa and includes his observations on colonial policy and administration and newspaper cuttings regarding his view of apartheid. The letters are supplemented by journals and diaries that Sir Roger kept throughout his life. #Roger stevens fullThese are full of vivid accounts of places visited and events witnessed, reflections on issues of the moment at the time and discerning descriptions of the people he was meeting in Argentina, the United States, Sweden, Paris, Antwerp, Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Persia (now Iran). Throughout his life Stevens sent lively and detailed letters home to his parents from his foreign postings as he did to his first wife, Constance, in the intervals when they were apart. United Nations Administrative Tribunal ( UNAT) member, 1972–1977.The principal interest of this collection lies in the day-to-day picture it presents of diplomatic life.Chairman of the Committee on Mineral Planning Control, 1972–1974,.Panel of Inquiry into Greater London Development Plan member, 1970–1972,.Chairman of Yorkshire and Humberside Economic Planning Council, 1965–1970,.Advisor to First Secretary of State on Central Africa, 1963–1970.In 1963 he took up the position of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds which he held until 1970. In 1958 he returned to London as Deputy Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office, until 1963. He wrote two books on Persia, The Land of the Great Sophy (1962) and First View of Persia (1964), and continued to contribute to academic journals on the same subject in later life. In 1951 he was appointed British Ambassador to Sweden, then in 1954, British Ambassador to Persia. In 1928 Stevens entered the UK Consular Service, serving in Buenos Aires, New York City, Antwerp, Denver, and the Foreign Office in London. He died on 20 February 1980, and she deposited his papers in the Churchill Archives, University of Cambridge in 1984. His second wife was Jane Chandler (née Irving), whom he married in 1977. He married his first wife, Constance Hallam Hipwell (died 1976), in 1931, and they later had a son, Bryan Constant Sebastian Bentham Stevens. He was educated at Wellington College and Queen's College, Oxford. ![]()
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