Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington

The latter's father, Robert Smith, MP for Nottingham, was created Baron Carrington in 1796 (Peerage of Ireland) and 1797 (Peerage of Great Britain).

The surname "Carrington" (with two Rs) was adopted by royal licence dated 1839 by his direct male ancestor Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, in lieu of Smith.

The spelling of the surname was changed by royal licence to "Carington" (with one r) in 1880 by the 2nd Baron's sons, but the spelling of the title did not change.

Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secretary from 1979 to 1982, Chairman of the General Electric Company from 1983 to 1984, and Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988.

In Margaret Thatcher's first government, he played a major role in negotiating the Lancaster House Agreement that ended the conflict in Rhodesia and enabled the creation of Zimbabwe.

Born in Chelsea on 6 June 1919, Peter Alexander Rupert Carington was the only son of the 5th Baron Carrington by his wife, the Hon. Sybil Marion Colville, a daughter of Charles Colville, 2nd Viscount Colville of Culross.

His great-uncles were the Liberal statesman Charles Wynn-Carington, 1st Marquess of Lincolnshire, and politician and courtier the Hon. Sir William Carington.

Carington grew up in Millaton House, in Bridestowe, Devon.

He went to Sandroyd School from 1928 to 1932, based at that time Cobham, Surrey, and Eton College.

On leaving Eton, his housemaster, Cyril Butterwick, said of Carington, "For a really stupid boy, there are three possible professions: farming, soldiering and stockbroking".

In 1938, Carington succeeded his father as 6th Baron Carrington.

After training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Carington was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards as a second lieutenant on 26 January 1939.

He served with the regiment during the Second World War, was promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1941, and later temporary captain and acting major.

Carington was a tank commander during Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands in 1944.

He led the first group of four Sherman tanks to cross the Nijmegen railway bridge across the Waal River and was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on 1 March 1945 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North West Europe".

Although he became eligible to take his seat in the House of Lords on his 21st birthday in 1940, since he was on active service, he did not do so until 9 October 1945.

After the war, Carington remained in the army until 1949.

After leaving the Army, Carington became involved in politics, and served in the Conservative governments of Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden as Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Food from November 1951 to October 1954.

He was also appointed Deputy lieutenant of Buckinghamshire on 2 July 1951.

During the Crichel Down affair, which led to the resignation of minister Thomas Dugdale, Carington tendered his resignation, which was refused by the Prime Minister.

Carington was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence from October 1954 to October 1956, and was then appointed High Commissioner to Australia, a post he held until October 1959.

He became a Privy Counsellor in 1959.

Following his return to Britain he served under Harold Macmillan as First Lord of the Admiralty until October 1963.

In this role, Carington worked with Lord Mountbatten, who was Chief of the Defence Staff, during a time of major restructuring and reform of the Admiralty.

After Alec Douglas-Home became prime minister in October 1963, Carington held the posts of minister without portfolio and Leader of the House of Lords until October 1964, when the general election led to a change of government.

From 1964 to 1970 he was Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords.

Carington became Shadow Defence Secretary in 1968 after Enoch Powell was dismissed, following his controversial Rivers of Blood speech on immigration.

When the Conservatives returned to power in 1970 under Edward Heath, Carington became Defence Secretary, where he remained until the 1974 general election.

He also served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1972 to 1974, and was briefly Secretary of State for Energy from January to March 1974.

Carington was again Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords from 1974 to 1979.

In a 1977 letter discussing the policy of torture of Irish republican internees during Operation Demetrius in August 1971, the then Home Secretary Merlyn Rees attributed the origins of the policy to Carington: '"It is my view (confirmed by Brian Faulkner before his death [NI's prime minister at the time]) that the decision to use methods of torture in Northern Ireland in 1971/72 was taken by ministers – in particular Lord Carrington, then secretary of state for defence."

In 1979 he was made Foreign Secretary and Minister for Overseas Development in the first cabinet of Margaret Thatcher.

Thatcher spoke highly of Carington, stating that "Peter had great panache and the ability to identify immediately the main points in any argument; and he could express himself in pungent terms. We had disagreements, but there were never any hard feelings."

Carington chaired the Lancaster House conference in 1979, attended by Ian Smith, Abel Muzorewa, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo and Josiah Tongogara, which brought to an end Rhodesia's Bush War.

He later expressed his support for Mugabe over Smith.

Carington was Foreign Secretary in 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.

He took full responsibility for the failure to foresee this and resigned.

Carington was primarily responsible for ensuring the 1982 Canada act passed the House of Lords.

As NATO secretary general, he helped prevent a war between Greece and Turkey during the 1987 Aegean crisis.

Following the House of Lords Act 1999, which removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, Carington was created a life peer as Baron Carington of Upton.