John Cloake (2 December 1924 – 9 July 2014) was a historian and author of several works mostly relating to thelocal history ofRichmond upon Thames and surrounding areas. He was also a former United Kingdomdiplomatic representative in Bulgaria.

The son of Dr Cecil Stedman Cloake and Maude Osborne Newling, John Cloake was born and brought up inWimbledon, London, where he attendedKing's College School.^[2] During and immediately afterWorld War II Cloake served in theBritish Army aslieutenant in theRoyal Engineers in India and Japan. After the war he completed his studies, reading History atCambridge University.^[3]

In August 1948 Cloake commenced a career in theUnited Kingdom's Diplomatic Service, within theForeign Office. Following an initial period in theInformation Research Department, he was appointedThird Secretary inBaghdad in 1949 supportingHenry Mack andJack Troutbeck. A posting toSaigon followed in 1951, first as Third Secretary then as Second Secretary. In 1956 he became Private Secretary toPermanent Under-SecretaryIvone Kirkpatrick during the time of theSuez Crisis, then toDouglas Dodds-Parker and, after that, toIan Harvey.^[3] In 1958 he transferred to New York as Commercial Consul. He then worked in Moscow and inTehran. His final post was inSofia asAmbassador of the United Kingdom to Bulgaria where he was in charge of the UK's diplomatic mission between 1976 and 1980.^[2][4]

Cloake and his wife moved toRichmond in 1962 and soon he began researching the area's rich local history. Cloake was a leading participant in the foundation of theRichmond Local History Society and of theMuseum of Richmond of which he was its first chairman.^[5] He was elected a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries of London in March 1988^{[nb 1]} and was awarded anHonoraryDLitt. fromKingston University in 2004.^[2]

Cloake appeared as a local history expert in series 5, episode 1 ofTime Team,Channel 4's TV programme on archaeology, which revealed the footings of the lostRichmond Palace. It was first broadcast on 4 January 1998.^[6][7]

In 1977, Cloake was appointed aCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).^[8]

Many articles by Cloake were published inRichmond History, the Journal of the Richmond Local History Society (including a contribution to the 2015 issue, published after his death).^[9] As well as a biography ofSir Gerald Templer, who was Britain's High Commissioner toMalaya from 1952 to 1954 and military adviser to the Prime Minister,Anthony Eden, during theSuez Crisis, he wrote several books relating to the history of Richmond and its vicinity:

• Cloake, John; Wright, John; Albrecht, Sally, eds. (1976).Richmond, Surrey, as it was. Hendon Publishing Company.ISBN 978-0-86067-004-9.
• Cloake, John (1982).The Growth of Richmond.Richmond Society History Section.ISBN 978-0-9508198-0-8.
• Cloake, John (1985).Templer, Tiger of Malaya: The Life of Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer.Harrap.ISBN 978-0-245-54204-6.
• Cloake, John (1989).Richmond's Links with North America.Richmond Local History Society.ISBN 978-0-9508198-4-6.
• Cloake, John (1990).Richmond's Great Monastery: The Charterhouse of Jesus of Bethlehem of Shene.Richmond Local History Society.ISBN 978-0-9508198-6-0.
• Cloake, John (1991).Richmond Past: A Visual History of Richmond, Kew, Petersham and Ham. London:Historical Publications.ISBN 978-0-948667-14-5. Recounts the history of the Richmond area – includingKew,Petersham andHam – from 1501 and is illustrated with drawings, paintings and photographs.
• Cloake, John (1992).Royal Bounty: The Richmond Parish Lands Charity 1786–1991. Trustees of Richmond Parish Lands Charity.ISBN 978-0-9519896-0-9.
• Cloake, John (1995).The Palaces and Parks of Richmond and Kew 1: The Palaces of Shene and Richmond.Phillimore & Co Ltd.ISBN 978-0-85033-976-5.
• Cloake, John (1996).The Palaces and Parks of Richmond and Kew 2: Richmond Lodge and the Kew Palaces.Phillimore & Co Ltd.ISBN 978-1-86077-023-4.OCLC 36045530.OL 8627654M.
• Cloake, John (1999).Richmond Past and Present in Old Photographs(Britain in Old Photographs).Sutton Publishing Ltd.ISBN 978-0-7509-1842-8.
• Cloake, John (2001).Cottages and Common Fields of Richmond and Kew.Phillimore & Co Ltd.ISBN 978-1-86077-195-8.
• Cloake, John (2001).Richmond Palace: Its History and Its Plan.Richmond Local History Society.ISBN 978-0-9522099-6-6.

While in Saigon, in 1952, he met Margaret ("Molli") Morris (1929–2008) fromWashington, D.C., who was serving there in theUnited States Diplomatic Service, and they were married inCambridge four years later in 1956. She died in 2008.^[10]

Cloake died on 9 July 2014.^{[1][11][12][13]}

In 2016, the Museum of Richmond displayed, in partnership with theOrleans House Gallery and theRiverside Gallery,Images of Richmond, an exhibition of prints he collected that depict the local area.^[14][15] Seventy-eight of these prints now formthe Cloake Collection at the Orleans House Gallery.

TheRoyal Asiatic Society holds archival material by Cloake and his wife onAzerbaijan andIran.^[8]

• Cloake, John (5 March 2014): "Being British Ambassador to Bulgaria in the 70s", Global conversations, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Cloake Collection,Orleans House Gallery

• 1924 births
• 2014 deaths
• 20th-century British diplomats
• 20th-century English historians
• 21st-century English historians
• Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
• Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Bulgaria
• British Army personnel of World War II
• Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
• English male non-fiction writers
• Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
• Historians of London
• Information Research Department
• Members of HM Diplomatic Service
• Military personnel from the London Borough of Merton
• People educated at King's College School, London
• People from Wimbledon, London
• Richmond, London
• Royal Engineers officers
• Writers from Wimbledon, London

• CS1: long volume value
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• EngvarB from August 2014
• Use dmy dates from August 2014