Jeremy Wolfenden

Jeremy Wolfenden born 26 June 1934 (d. 1965)

Jeremy Wolfenden was a foreign correspondent and British spy at the height of the Cold War.

He won a scholarship to Eton where he was known as 'cleverest boy in England', then to Magdalen College, Oxford where he obtained a first in PPE. He was recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) before becoming the Daily Telegraph foreign correspondent in Moscow where he indulged in his twin passions for sex and alcohol and was eventually compromised by the KGB.

He struck up friendships with Guy Burgess the British defector, and Martina Browne, the nanny employed by Ruari and Janet Chisholm who were working for SIS and were instrumental in the defection of Oleg Penkovsky - a colonel in Soviet military intelligence - who was responsible for disabusing the Kennedy administration of the myth that the 'missile gap' was in the Soviet's favour.

Wolfenden subsequently came under pressure from both SIS and the KGB while in Moscow and swapped roles with the Telegraph's Washington correspondent, where he married Martina Browne. He died aged 31 in what appeared to be suspicious circumstances in Washington. It was claimed he had fainted in the bathroom, cracked his head against the washbasin and died of a cerebral haemorrhage. It is now thought likely that he died of liver failure brought on by his excessive drinking.

Interestingly, Jeremy Wolfenden was the son of John, later Lord Wolfenden, [pictured] who chaired the committee responsible for producing the Wolfenden Report in 1957 - which was instrumental in the eventual 'decriminalisation' of homosexuality in England and Wales in 1967.

Before winning his scholarship to Oxford, Jeremy had told his father he was gay. John Wolfenden was horrified, writing to suggest "we stay out of each other's way for the time being." Thinking homsexuality was 'an abomination', Wolfenden remained ashamed and fearful of his son's homosexuality becoming known even as he - probably unwittingly - made gay history.

A short biography of Wolfenden appears in the book The Fatal Englishman by Sebastian Faulks.

In 2007, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wolfenden Report - more significantly the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, BBC Drama commissioned Consenting Adults for BBC Four, a 75-minute special set against the deliberations of the Wolfenden Committee. The drama considers the conflict between Wolfenden, played by Charles Dance, and his son, Jeremy, played by Sean Biggerstaff.