# Robert Paus Platt

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British diplomat

Robert Paus Platt OBE Under-Secretary, Government of Mandatory Palestine Personal details Born 1905 (1905) England Died 22 July 1946(1946-07-22) (aged 40–41) Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine Cause of death King David Hotel bombing Resting place Jerusalem Spouse Joan Rosa Lumley Parent(s) Robert M. Platt, Ellen Sophie Paus Alma mater Queens' College, Cambridge Occupation Diplomat, colonial administrator Known for One of the highest-ranking British officials killed in the King David Hotel bombing Awards Officer of the Order of the British Empire

**Robert Paus Platt** [OBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (born 1905 in England, died 22 July 1946 in [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem)) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as [undersecretary](/source/Undersecretary) in the mandatory government of the [British Mandate of Palestine](/source/Mandatory_Palestine). As the deputy of the chief secretary he was one of the highest-ranking government officials in Mandatory Palestine, after the chief secretary and the [high commissioner](/source/List_of_high_commissioners_for_Palestine_and_Transjordan). He was among the 91 victims of the [King David Hotel bombing](/source/King_David_Hotel_bombing), along with seven of his assistant secretaries. He was the highest-ranking British official to be killed in the attack. Prior to his work in Palestine he had been an [assistant secretary](/source/Assistant_secretary#United_Kingdom) (divisional manager) at the [Colonial Office](/source/Colonial_Office) in London and served for eleven years in the administration of the [Kenya Colony](/source/Kenya_Colony), including as assistant [colonial secretary](/source/Chief_secretary_(British_Empire)).

## Career

Platt studied at [Queens' College, Cambridge](/source/Queens'_College%2C_Cambridge). He joined the [Colonial Administrative Service](/source/Colonial_Service#Colonial_Administrative_Service) as a cadet in 1927, serving in [Kenya](/source/Kenya) until 1938. He was appointed assistant [resident commissioner](/source/Resident_commissioner) in [Mombasa](/source/Mombasa) in 1928[1] and became a [district officer](/source/District_officer) in 1929. As of 1936 he was assistant [colonial secretary](/source/Chief_secretary_(British_Empire)) in Kenya, serving under colonial secretary and acting governor [Armigel Wade](/source/Armigel_Wade).[2] In 1938 he returned to London to become [assistant secretary](/source/Assistant_secretary#United_Kingdom) in the [Colonial Office](/source/Colonial_Office).[3][4] He later became [undersecretary](/source/Undersecretary) in the mandatory government of the [British Mandate of Palestine](/source/Mandatory_Palestine) and was killed in the [King David Hotel bombing](/source/King_David_Hotel_bombing). He was the most senior British official to be killed, among the 91 victims of the attack.[5][6] He was interred in [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem).

## Background

Platt was the son of Robert M. Platt and Ellen Sophie Paus, who married in 1904.[7] His mother was a member of the noted [Paus family](/source/Paus_family) of Norway. His maternal grandfather Christopher Paus, who was a first cousin of [Henrik Ibsen](/source/Henrik_Ibsen), was a Norwegian-born businessman who moved to England. His other three grandparents were English. He was a nephew of the British Consul in Oslo, [Christopher Lintrup Paus](/source/Christopher_Lintrup_Paus).

He was married to Joan Rosa Lumley, a daughter of James Maddy Lumley, a British colonial administrator in Africa who was Commissioner of Police in Kenya.

## Honours

- [Officer of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (OBE)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** *[The Official Gazette](https://books.google.com/books?id=75DIKZgJvvgC&pg=PT1)*, 22 May 1928, p. 618

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *[Kenya Colony and Protectorate Blue Book for the Year ended 31st December 1936](https://books.google.com/books?id=musjYUbfNAgC)*, p. 207

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *The Colonial Legal Service List*, nr. 172, s. 106, Colonial Office, 1939

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Anthony Hamilton Millard Kirk-Greene, *A Biographical Dictionary of the British Colonial Service*, 1939–1966. London: Hans Zell, 1991

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** *[Queens' College 1948–1948](http://www.queens.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.queens.cam.ac.uk/files/publicationFiles/1947-1948ocr.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170418164540/http://www.queens.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.queens.cam.ac.uk/files/publicationFiles/1947-1948ocr.pdf) 18 April 2017 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Alice M. Boase, Mary Hannah, Margaret Knowlden, *When the sun never set: a family's life in the British Empire*, p. 149, Radcliffe Press, 2005

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** *Leeds Mercury*, 3 June 1904

v t e Paus family Early members Sir Hans Olufsson (ca. 1500), cleric Sir Hans Povelsson Paus the Elder (1587), cleric Sir Peder Povelsson Paus (1590), cleric Sir Povel Hansson Paus (1620), cleric Sir Povel Pedersson Paus (1625), cleric Sir Hans Povelsson Paus (1656), cleric Cornelius Povelsson Paus (1662), judge Peder Hansson Paus (1691), judge Hans Pedersson Paus (1721), judge Skien branch Cornelius Paus (1726), civil servant Hedevig Paus (1763) Ole Paus (1766), shipowner Henrik Johan Paus (1799), lawyer Christian Cornelius Paus (1800), governor Christopher Blom Paus (1810), shipowner Henrik Ibsen (1828), playwright Johan Altenborg Paus (1834), war commissioner Ole Paus (1846), industrialist Karl L. Paus (1856), industrialist Christopher Lintrup Paus CBE (1881), British diplomat Thorleif (von) Paus (1881), diplomat George Wegner Paus (1882), lawyer Hans Wangensten Paus (1891), engineer Robert Paus Platt OBE (1905), British diplomat Helvig (von) Paus (1909) Ole (von) Paus (1910), general Per Paus (1910), industrialist Thorleif Lintrup Paus (1912), diplomat Cecilie Paus (1943), shipping magnate Peder Paus (1945), businessman Ole Paus (1947), singer Pontine Paus (1973), shipping heir Olympia Paus (1976), shipping heir Marcus Paus (1979), composer of Herresta Count Christopher (de) Paus (1862), philanthropist Herman Paus (1897), skier, estate owner Countess Tatiana Tolstoy-Paus (1914) Henrik Ibsen Knud Ibsen Marichen Altenburg Sigurd Ibsen Altenburggården The Ibsen Family Paus family in fiction Peer Gynt Rosmersholm The Wild Duck Ghosts An Enemy of the People Hedda Gabler Drammen branch Bernhard Cathrinus Pauss (1839), theologian Henriette Pauss (1841), teacher Olav Pauss (1863), shipowner Nikolai Nissen Paus (1877), surgeon/humanitarian Augustin Paus (1881), industrialist Bernhard Paus (1910), surgeon/humanitarian Vilhelm Paus (1915), diplomat Brita Collett Paus (1917), humanitarian Nikolai Paus (1944), businessman Other Pauspur Paus collection (Paus Trajan) Herresta Kvesarum Castle Villa Paus Esviken Paus & Paus Ole Paus Company Wilh. Wilhelmsen

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