Barbara Woodward Last updated August 22, 2025 Early years Woodward was born in Gipping ,Suffolk ,to Arthur Claude Woodward (1921–1992) and Rosemary Monica Gabrielle Fenton. [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] Her father,who served in World War II as an officer of the Suffolk Regiment and won the Military Cross for gallantry, [ 7] was later elected a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors , [ 3] and her mother taught at Ipswich School . [ 8]
Woodward was educated at South Lee School in Bury St Edmunds and at Saint Felix School ,a co-educational independent boarding school in Southwold . [ 9] She graduated from the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 1983 with an undergraduate Master of Arts degree in history. [ 3] She taught English ,first at Nankai University and then at Hubei University ,in Wuhan ,China ,between 1986 and 1988. [ 1] She later learned and mastered Chinese . Her teacher in London gave her the Chinese name Wu Baina (吴百纳WúBǎinà). [ 1] In 1988 she went to Yale University in the United States to further her studies on international relations ,and obtained a postgraduate Master of Arts (MA) degree. [ 2]
Diplomatic career Woodward joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1994. [ 2] She served in Russia from 1994 to 1998 as Second (and later First) Secretary,and in China from 2003 to 2009,first as Political Counsellor,then across the whole United Kingdom-China relationship as Deputy Head of Mission,including during the 2008 Summer Olympics . From 2011 to 2015 she was Director General for Economic and Consular Affairs at the FCO. [ 2]
In February 2015 she was appointed British Ambassador to China ,the first woman to hold the position. She was succeeded in September 2020 by Caroline Wilson . [ 10] In 2015,in a conversation with Lucy D'Orsi ,Queen Elizabeth II said that Chinese officials "were very rude to the ambassador" (referring to Woodward),during an event at Lancaster House ,London. [ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
Woodward was appointed Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations by the Foreign Secretary ,Dominic Raab ,in 2020. [ 14] In 2025 she was a candidate for Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6),which was eventually awarded to Blaise Metreweli . [ 8]
Personal life Woodward's hobbies include sports ,particularly competitive swimming and tennis . She is a member of the Otter Swimming Club in London and has previously served as its Honorary Secretary. [ 3]
Notes 1 2 3 "英國首位女性駐華大使履新，29年前在中國教英語" (19 March 2015) 1 2 3 4 Dame Barbara Woodward DCMG OBE, profile , Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Retrieved 11 December 2020. 1 2 3 4 "WOODWARD, Barbara Janet" (2012) ↑ "Descendants of John Roper-269323" (13 April 2005) ↑ The Diplomatic Service List (2003), p.325. ↑ "England & Wales births 1837-2006" (retrieved on 24 March 2015) ↑ "Issue 36850 ", London Gazette , 19 December 1944, p.5856. 1 2 The Observer, "Barbara Woodward – the potential new head of MI6" 1 2 Black, Don (12 February 2018). "From Suffolk to Beijing: our woman in China" . East Anglian Daily Times . Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020 . ↑ "Caroline Wilson appointed as Her Majesty's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China" (Press release). Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020 . ↑ Phillips, Tom (11 May 2016). "Queen caught on camera saying Chinese officials were 'very rude' . The Guardian . Retrieved 20 March 2017 . ↑ Linder, Alex (11 May 2016). "Queen Elizabeth caught on camera saying Chinese officials were 'very rude' during Xi Jinping's visit" . Shanghaiist . Retrieved 20 March 2017 . ↑ "Queen filmed calling Chinese officials 'very rude' . BBC News . 11 May 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2017 . ↑ "Dame Barbara Woodward appointed UK Permanent Representative to the UN in New York" . Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020 . ↑ "Supplement to Issue 55354 ", London Gazette , 31 December 1998, p.24. ↑ "Supplement to Issue 59808 ", London Gazette , 11 June 2011, p.13. ↑ "Birthday Honours 2016: Diplomatic Service and Overseas List" (PDF) . UK Government. Retrieved 10 June 2016 . References English language The Diplomatic Service List . Great Britain: H.M. Stationery Office, 2003."Descendants of John Roper-269323 ", Genealogy Web Page of L. David Roper , 13 April 2005. "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to China ", Foreign & Commonwealth Office: Press Release , 6 August 2014. "WOODWARD, Barbara Janet", Who's Who 2013 . London: A. & C. Black, 2012. ISBN 978-1-40815-491-5 "Prince William coming to China ", China Daily , 6 February 2015. "Barbara Woodward ", Linkedin , retrieved on 24 March 2015. "England & Wales births 1837-2006 ", Genes Reunited, retrieved on 24 March 2015. This page is based on this
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