The Life and Character of Eric Drummond 1876–1951

Abstract

New biographical sources give fresh insight on Drummond’s life and character and show the influence of his early life on his career, which was further affected by lengthy sojourns in Germany before joining the Foreign Office (FO) and by conversion to Roman Catholicism on marriage. Drummond was a contact between the FO and the British secret service, under the code-name ‘Bond’. The League Secretariat was shaped by Drummond’s ‘sound practicality’. His character comes through strongly in the minutes of weekly meetings with his Directors, which began in August 1919. At the end of his life he was eulogized for having constructed one of the new elements of world life, the International Civil Service, which was the enduring achievement of the internationalism that emerged in 1919.