The History of the Consulate in Colorado

1. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has records dating back to 1885 when Richard Pearce was appointed Vice-Consul from 4 September 1885. He was succeeded, by his son Harold Pearce in July 1901.

2. The Pearce family had close and important ties with early Colorado history. Richard was the manager of Nathaniel P. Hill's Argo Smelter in Denver. Harold, who was an experienced metallurgist from Wales, came to Colorado in 1872 to help find a more profitable method for smelting gold ores in the Central City area. Harold succeeded his father in the smelting business. When the Argo Smelter burnt down in 1906, the Pearce family moved back to England.

3. Alfred Crebbin was appointed as Vice Consul on 12 July 1906 (Note: coincidentally – exactly 60 years before the birth of the current Consul General’s wife). Alfred Crebbin appears to have been the owner of the Crebbin Investment Company. He would also have been involved in Denver’s first DNC. According to our records he had a Marriage Warrant (and could therefore marry British Citizens) and had an annual “Fee allowance” of £11 per year. His son Harry took over the company and the role of Vice-Consul in 1919. He resigned in May 1931 and the post closed in 1932.

Historic Note: From September 1885 until 1914, the Vice-Consulate in Denver was subordinate to Chicago. In 1914 it was subordinated to St. Louis. In 1942, it appears to work directly to the Embassy in Washington.

4. Between 1933 and 1941 there is a gap in our FCO records. But we know that (Sir) Roger Bentham Stevens was appointed Consul in September 1942. Sir Roger Bentham Stevens was the first non-Resident Consul (probably working out of our Embassy in Washington).

The re-opening of the Consulate was part of the British Government’s policy to increase the British presence throughout the US as part of its war-time information effort. The Consulate was set up in the Brown Palace (opposite our current office) at a cost of $90 per month.  

Sir Roger had an illustrious career in the Foreign Office. He entered the Consular Service in 1928, serving over the next three years in Buenos Aires, New York, Antwerp, Denver (1932?), and the Foreign Office in London. After Washington/Denver Sir Roger worked in the Foreign Office in London from 1946-1948; he was then promoted to Assistant Under-Secretary of State and from 1951 -1954 was British Ambassador to Sweden. His next posting was as British Ambassdaor to Persia (1954-1958). He died in 1980.

5. There then followed three Consuls whose details are sparse: (Sir) Herbert Stanley Marchant, KCMG, OBE (1946-48) later HM Ambassador to Tunis, Brian Huleatt Heddy (1948-1951) and Patrick Murdoch Johnston (1951-1954).

6. From 1954 -1956, Wing Commander Thomas Stuart Tull, (CBE), DSO, OBE was the Consul to Denver. Wing Comander Tull was born in 1914 and educated at Rossall School and Jesus College, Oxford. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1938 and served in India from 1939-1942. Joined the RAF in 1942 and was a Staff Officer at the Air Headquarters South East Asia Air Command, 1942-1945. From 1945-1946 he worked with the RAPWI (Recovered Allied Prisoners of War and Internees) on Java for the rescue and repatriation of allied prisoners of war. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1947 and worked in the Foreign Office from 1947-1948 and was then posted as First Secretary at the British Legation, Berne. From 1951-53 back in the Foreign Office. And then he was appointed as HM Consul in San Francisco, 1953-1954; HM Consul at Denver, 1954-1956; Press Counsellor at British Embassy in Cairo, 1956 and Berne, 1957; HM Consul-General in Gothenburg, 1958-1961, Philadelphia, 1961-1966 and Durban, 1966-1967 and finally as  High Commissioner in Malawi, 1967-1971. Wing Commander Tull retired in 1971 and died in 1982.  

7. After Wing Comander Tull there were three more Consuls about whom little is known, Stephen Patrick House (1956-1960), Ian Day Adams (1960-1963) and Laurence  Percy Farrer L’Estrange OBE (1963-1967). We do know that the Consulate was then housed at 607, Colorado Building, 1615 California Street.  

8. Colin George Mayhew (1967-1969) had the misfortune to close the Consulate in 1969. Physically, it was  closed by Olive Grey, Acting Consul, at 3.30pm on Friday 15 February. At that time the Consulate was was based in the Western Federal Savings Building at 718 Seventeenth Street. The Consulate then covered not only Colorado, but also Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and eastern Montana. Houston took on responsibilty for the Consular district of Colorado. Interestingly, the French Consulate –General also closed its doors in 1969.  

9. RC Fenton was the Honorary Consul from 1971-1972. He had his office at 901 Denver Club building. Mr Fenton was born in London in 1921 and rose to be President and Chamber of the Board of Pfizer International. Unfortunately there is nothing listed for Consular activity between 1972 and 1993. In 1994, Mr Neil Peck was appointed Honorary Consul and retired from that position in 2000.  

10. On 12 April 2000, John Maguire (a career diplomat ) re-opened, in the presence of Governor Bill Owens, Denver Mayor, Wellington Webb and Ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer, the Denver Consulate. John was Her Majesty’s Consul from 2000-2004. Mark Stevens was Her Majestys Consul from 2004 until March 2007 when Kevin Lynch took up his current duties.  

11. On 04 December 2008, the Consulate was formally upgraded (in the presence of Governor Bill Ritter Jr.) to a Consulate General. Kevin Lynch became its first Consul General and his responsibities now cover not only Colorado but also Wyoming and New Mexico.

British Consulate General
Denver
December 2008