Sir Ernest Colville Collins Wilton KCMG (born 6 February 1870 in Singapore; died 28 December 1952 in Ashington, England) was a British diplomat and President of the Commission for the Government of the Saar Basin between 1927 and 1932.[1][2]

Sir
Ernest Wilton
President of the Commission for the Government of the Saar Basin
In office
9 June 1927 – 31 March 1932
Preceded byGeorge Washington Stephens, Jr.
Succeeded byGeoffrey George Knox
Personal details
Born(1870-02-06)6 February 1870
Singapore
Died28 December 1952(1952-12-28) (aged 82)
Ashington, England
EducationBedford Modern School
OccupationDiplomat

Life

edit

His parents were both naturalised British, the Danish-born mother and father born in the Netherlands. He was educated at Bedford Modern School.[3]

In 1890, he joined the British diplomatic service in China and worked in various diplomatic posts for the next 30 years. For his service in the British missions to Tibet and the related negotiations with China in 1904 as he was appointed Companion in the Order of St. Michael and St. George. During World War I, he continued serving in various diplomatic and customs posts in China. He returned to Europe in 1919 and served as one of the Allied Arbitration Commission for 1919/20 Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts for the border town Cieszyn (or Teschen). Subsequently, he was a British envoy in all three Baltic States. In 1923 he was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael's and St. George. From 1923 to 1926, he was a member of an International Commission to the Chinese Salt Trade before he was in 1927 appointed President of the Commission for the Government of the Saar Basin. In 1932, he resigned from that office to retire for health reasons.

References

edit
  1. ^ Obituary in The Times, Sir Ernest Wilton, 30 December 1952, p. 8
  2. ^ "Wilton, Sir Ernest Colville Collins, (6 Feb. 1870–28 Dec. 1952)". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U244582. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1.
  3. ^ Underwood, Andrew (1981). Bedford Modern School of the black & red. Bedford Modern School. ISBN 9780950760803. OCLC 16558393 – via worldcat.org.
edit
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
no-one
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
to the Republics of Estonia, Lavia and Lithuania

1919–1923
Succeeded by
John Charles Tudor Vaughan
Preceded by President of the Commission for
the Government of the Saar Basin

1927–1932
Succeeded by