Sir John Ramsden, 9th Baronet

Ramsden was born on 19 August 1950. He was a son of Anne Wickham and Sir Caryl Oliver Imbert Ramsden, 8th Baronet (1915–1987), was also a diplomat and was appointed Consul-General for Lower Saxony and was appointed CMG and CVO.[2]

His paternal grandparents were Lt.-Col. Josslyn Vere Ramsden (a son of John Charles Francis Ramsden) and Olive Clotilde Bouhier Imbert-Terry (a daughter of Frederic William Imbert-Terry, Seigneur de la Terrière). His maternal grandparents were Lt.-Col. Sir Charles George Wickham and Phyllis Amy Rose.[3]

Ramsden was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.[4] In 1987, he succeeded as the 9th Baronet Ramsden of Byram.[5]

After two years in merchant banking with Dawnay Day, he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1975.[4]

Early in his career he served in Vienna with the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions negotiations and then became Head of Chancery and Consul in Hanoi in 1980.[4] After some years in London he was Counsellor in East Berlin (1990) and subsequently Deputy Head of Mission in Berlin (1991-1993); Head of the Information Department at the Foreign Office (1993-1996); Deputy Permanent Representative at the United Nations in Geneva (1996-1999); Head of the Central and North West Europe Department (1999-2003); and finally Ambassador to Croatia (2004-2008).[4]

In August 2005 his name appeared on a list of alleged MI6 Officers leaked to the website Cryptome.[6]

On 14 December 1985, married Jennifer Jane Bevan, daughter of Rear-Admiral Christopher Martin Bevan and the former Patricia Bedford. Together, they are the parents of:[3]

• Isobel Lucy Ramsden (b. 1987)[3]
• Stella Evelyn Ramsden (b. 1989)[3]