Background
His father was John Laithwaite of the Post Office survey. His mother was Mary Kearney whose family hailed from Castlerea, Company Roscommon.
His father was John Laithwaite of the Post Office survey. His mother was Mary Kearney whose family hailed from Castlerea, Company Roscommon.
Laithwaite was a first cousin of the Irish Republican leader Ernie O"Malley. He received an honorary fellowship from that college in 1955. In the First world war, Laithwaite served in the British army in France as a second lieutenant with the 10th Lancashire Fusiliers.
He was wounded in 1918.
In 1971 he published an account of part of his war experience entitled 21 March 1918: Memories of an Infantry Officer. Following the war Laithwaite joined the India Office.
In 1931 he was attached to Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald for the second Indian round-table conference in London. Work in India followed, on Lord Lothian"s Franchise committee, which extended the Indian franchise to 35 million voters.
From 1936 to 1943 he was principal private secretary to the Viceroy of India, the second marquess of Linlithgow.
In 1943 he returned to Britain as assistant under-secretary of state for India. In 1947 he took part in London talks on Burmese independence, also attended by Stafford Cripps and Aung Sanitary In 1949 he became United Kingdom representative, and from 1 July 1950 Ambassador, to the Republic of Ireland (where he was generally regarded as less adept than his predecessor Lord Rugby).
In 1951 he became high commissioner to Pakistan.
In this position he became concerned with the implications of United States military aid to Pakistan under Iskander Mirza. He became permanent under-secretary of state for Commonwealth relations from 1955 to 1959, visiting Australia and New Zealand.
From 1963 to 1966 he was vice-chairman of the Commonwealth Institute.