Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon

The Right Honourable
The Lord Caradon
GCMG KCVO OBE PC
British Permanent Representative to the United Nations
In office
1964–1970
Monarch Elizabeth II
Preceded by Sir Patrick Dean
Succeeded by Sir Colin Crowe
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign Affairs (1964–1968)
In office
1964–1970
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Preceded by The Earl of Dundee
Peter Thomas
Succeeded by Joseph Godber
Richard Wood
Governor of Cyprus
In office
3 December 1957 – 16 August 1960
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Sir John Harding
Succeeded by Cyprus gained independence
Governor of Jamaica
In office
7 April 1951 – 18 November 1957
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Anthony Eden
Preceded by Sir John Huggins
Succeeded by Sir Kenneth Blackburne
Personal details
Born (1907-10-08)8 October 1907
Southampton, United Kingdom
Died 5 September 1990(1990-09-05) (aged 82)
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge

Hugh Mackintosh Foot, Baron Caradon, GCMG, KCVO, OBE, PC (8 October 1907 – 5 September 1990) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat who presided over moves to Independence in various colonies and was UK representative to the United Nations.

Early life and education

Hugh Mackintosh Foot was born in Plymouth in Devon, England, on 8 October 1907. He was educated at Leighton Park School in Reading, Berkshire, and went on to study at St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1929.[1] He was President of the Cambridge Union and also of the Cambridge University Liberal Club. His three politically active brothers, Dingle, John and Michael, were all educated at Oxford and all became Presidents of the Oxford Union.

Career

Hugh Foot's career in the diplomatic service was both long and distinguished. In Mandatory Palestine, he served as the assistant district commissioner for the Nablus region.[2] During the Second World War he was appointed as British Military Administrator of Cyrenaica, and served as Colonial Secretary of Cyprus from 1943 to 1945. After the War, he served as Colonial Secretary of Jamaica, 1945–47, Chief Secretary for Nigeria, 1947–50 and was appointed to be the Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of Jamaica in 1951,[3] a post he held until 1957.

He returned to Cyprus as the last colonial Governor and Commander in Chief in 1957[4] until 1960, when Cyprus gained independence. In 1961, he became British Ambassador to the United Nations Trusteeship Council. After the Labour Party won the 1964 general election, Foot became Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and British Ambassador to the United Nations from 1964 to 1970. During his tenure as Permanent Representative, he was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1968 New Year Honours.[5] After his retirement, he became a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and Princeton University.

In 1964 Foot was granted a life peerage as Baron Caradon, of St Cleer in the County of Cornwall,[6] the title referring to Caradon Hill on Bodmin Moor, not far from Trematon Castle, which was his country home. He jokingly claimed to be glad to be divested of the surname "Foot", which he considered a standing invitation to wags, as he liked to illustrate by recalling a telegram his father received on his election to parliament: "Foot, congratulations on your feat!" Foot was an active freemason.[7]

Honours and styles

Honours

Foot was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1939 New Year Honours[8][9] and elevated Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1946 Birthday Honours.[10] He was elevated Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1951 New Year Honours[11] and was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) on 27 November 1953.[12] In the 1957 Birthday Honours, he was elevated a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).[13]

Styles of address

  • 1907–1939: Mr Hugh Foot
  • 1939–1946: Mr Hugh Foot OBE
  • 1946–1951: Mr Hugh Foot CMG OBE
  • 1951: Sir Hugh Foot KCMG OBE
  • 1951–1953: His Excellency Sir Hugh Foot KCMG OBE
  • 1953–1957: His Excellency Sir Hugh Foot KCMG KCVO OBE
  • 1957–1960: His Excellency Sir Hugh Foot GCMG KCVO OBE
  • 1960–1964: Sir Hugh Foot GCMG KCVO OBE
  • 1964–1968: His Excellency The Rt Hon. The Lord Caradon GCMG KCVO OBE
  • 1968–1970: His Excellency The Rt Hon. The Lord Caradon GCMG KCVO OBE PC
  • 1970–1990: The Rt Hon. The Lord Caradon GCMG KCVO OBE PC

Family

He was one of the four sons of the Liberal Member of Parliament Isaac Foot, his three brothers being the politician Sir Dingle Foot, the life peer Lord Foot, and the journalist and Labour Party leader Michael Foot. "We were proud to be nonconformists and Roundheads", Caradon once wrote of his family: "Oliver Cromwell was our hero and John Milton our poet."

Foot married Florence Sylvia Tod in 1936. She predeceased him in 1985. They had three sons and a daughter together:[1]

Foot died in Plymouth, aged 82, on 5 September 1990. He was survived by his four children.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hugh Mackintosh Foot, Baron Caradon". The Peerage. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Samuel, E.H. (1970). A Lifetime in Jerusalem: The Memoirs of the Second Viscount Samuel. Transaction Publishers. p. 131.
  3. ↑ "No. 39166". The London Gazette. 9 March 1951. p. 1226.
  4. ↑ "No. 41246". The London Gazette. 6 December 1957. p. 7115.
  5. ↑ "No. 44484". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1967. p. 1.
  6. ↑ "No. 43475". The London Gazette. 27 October 1964. p. 9125.
  7. ↑ "Power of the Masons - Myth of Menace?". Sunday People. 13 July 1986.
  8. ↑ "No. 34585". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1938. p. 18.
  9. ↑ "No. 15559". The Edinburgh Gazette. 6 January 1939. p. 26.
  10. ↑ "No. 37598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1946. p. 2761.
  11. ↑ "No. 39104". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1950. p. 4.
  12. ↑ "No. 40043". The London Gazette. 15 December 1953. p. 6816.
  13. ↑ "No. 41089". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1957. p. 3370.
  14. ↑ "Sarah Foot, writer - obituary", The Daily Telegraph, 6 March 2015.
  15. ↑ Geoffrey Holland "Oliver Foot" (obituary), The Guardian, 12 February 2008.

Works

Government offices
Preceded by
Sir John Huggins		 Governor of Jamaica
1951–1957		 Succeeded by
Sir Kenneth Blackburne
Preceded by
John Harding		 Governor of Cyprus
1957–1960		 Cyprus became independent
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