Robert Gordon is a former British diplomat who served in South America; Central and Western Europe and the Far East. His later assignments included the posts of Ambassador to Burma/Myanmar (1995-1999) and Ambassador to Vietnam (2003-2007).

From 2011 to 2018 he was Chairman of Prospect Burma, a charity sponsoring international university education for Burmese students. From 2011-2022 he was President of the Britain Burma Society. After retirement he lectured at the University of Strasbourg and at France’s elite Ecole National d’Administration. In recent years, he has lectured on cruises to South East Asia, South America and the Caribbean. He now lives in Salisbury with his wife Pam, who was also a professional diplomat. They have four children. 

Robert is going to talk to us today about a soldier whose fame, if not fortune, in suppressing a major Chinese rebellion (hence his nickname of ‘Chinese Gordon’); his late career in Sudan and tragic death in Khartoum was to shock Victorian Britain and led to the fall of Gladstone’s government.

The AGM will take place following the talk.