James Eric Drummond, 7th Earl of Perth, (17 August 1876 – 15 December 1951), was a British politician and diplomat who was the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations (1920–1933). Quiet and unassuming, he succeeded in building an effective international staff. However he failed to resolve major international disputes because of pressure from Britain and France, the most powerful League members. He moved on to become British Ambassador to Italy (1933–1939) and then the chief adviser on foreign publicity in the Ministry of Information (1939–1940). In 1946, he became deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. Early life and career Family Drummond was born into the Scottish nobility, the Chiefs of Clan Drummond. His father was James David Drummond, 10th Viscount Strathallan (1839–1893), an army officer of Machany in Perthshire who had three children with his second wife, Margaret Smythe, the daughter of William Smythe of Methven Castle in Perthshire. James Eric Drummond was the eldest and the only son but Drummond had two half-sisters and one half-brother, William Huntley Drummond, from his father's first marriage to Ellen Thornhill. Drummond's brother William succeeded their father as Viscount Strathallan in 1893 and, in 1902, succeeded their distant cousin, George Drummond, 5th Earl of Perth, to become the 6th Earl of Perth. On 20 August 1937 Drummond's half-brother died and so Drummond became the 7th Earl of Perth and inherited these titles: Lord Drummond of Cargill and Stobhall, Lord Maderty, 12th Viscount Strathallan, Lord Drummond of Cromlix, Hereditary thegn of Lennox, Hereditary Steward of Menteith and Strathearn and Chief of Clan Drummond. He was raised in a Presbyterian family but converted to Roman Catholicism in 1903. That became a hindrance during his career when Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald vetoed his appointment as ambassador at Washington in 1933. His conversion was most likely caused by his wish to marry a Roman Catholic, the Hon. Angela Mary Constable-Maxwell (1877–1965), the daughter of Marmaduke Constable-Maxwell, 11th Lord Herries of Terregles and Hon. Angela Mary Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard (daughter of the 1st Baron Howard of Glossop), which he did on 20 April 1904. They had four children: Lady Margaret Gwendolyn Mary (1905) John David Drummond, Viscount Strathallan (1907), inherited his father's titles Lady Angela Alice Maryel Drummond (1912) Lady Gillian Mary Drummond (1920). Education and early career Drummond was educated at Eton College, where he graduated in 1895. There, he learned French,