John Horace Ragnar Colvin

John Horace Ragnar Colvin, CMG (18 June 1922 – 4 October 2003) was a British sailor, intelligence officer, banker and military historian.

The Colvin family had a long history of service to Queen and country, both in the military and administration. John Horace Ragnar Colvin was the son of Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin; the grandson of Clement Sneyd Colvin; and the great-grandson of John Russell Colvin, lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces of British India during the mutiny of 1857, who had ten children and founded a dynasty of Empire-builders. Relatives included Walter Mytton and Auckland, also lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces and Oudh. Brenda Colvin (1897–1981) was an important landscape architect, author of standard works in the field and a force behind its professionalisation. Sidney Colvin was a critic, curator, and great friend of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Colvin married twice. His first marriage was to Anne Manifold in 1948, which ended in 1963. His second was to Moranna Cazenove in 1967. Each marriage produced a daughter and a son.

His former wife Anne later married Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot, a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy, and became Lady Synnot.

One of Colvin's children (with Anne) was Mark Colvin, an Australian journalist. Mark wrote of his father's career in his 2016 book Light and Shadow: Memoirs of a Spy's Son. His grandchildren include the Australian-born illustrator Anna Higgie.

He was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and passed into the Royal Navy in the early part of the Second World War.

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