Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon

Hugh Mackintosh Foot, Baron Caradon GCMG KCVO OBE PC (8 October 1907 – 5 September 1990) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat who was Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and the last governor of British Cyprus.

The Lord Caradon
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations
In office
16 October 1964  19 June 1970
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded bySir Patrick Dean
Succeeded bySir Colin Crowe
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign Affairs (1964–1968)
In office
16 October 1964  19 June 1970
Prime MinisterHarold Wilson
Preceded byThe Earl of Dundee
Peter Thomas
Succeeded byJoseph Godber
Richard Wood
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
27 October 1964  5 September 1990
Life Peerage
Governor of Cyprus
In office
3 December 1957  16 August 1960
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan
Preceded bySir John Harding
Succeeded byCyprus gained independence
Governor of Jamaica
In office
7 April 1951  18 November 1957
MonarchsGeorge VI
Elizabeth II
Prime MinisterSir Winston Churchill
Sir Anthony Eden
Harold Macmillan
Preceded bySir John Huggins
Succeeded bySir Kenneth Blackburne
Personal details
Born(1907-10-08)8 October 1907
Plymouth, England
Died5 September 1990(1990-09-05) (aged 82)
Plymouth, England
Spouse
Florence Sylvia Tod
(m. 1936; died 1985)
ChildrenPaul, Sarah, Oliver, and Benjamin
Parent(s)Isaac Foot
Eva Mackintosh
RelativesSir Dingle Foot (brother)
The Lord Foot (brother)
Michael Foot (brother)
John Foot (grandson)
EducationLeighton Park School
Alma materSt John's College, Cambridge

Early life and education

Hugh Mackintosh Foot was born in Plymouth 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 Permanent Representatives from the United Kingdom to the United Nations from 1964 to 1970. Caradon worked with Charles W. Yost on the Four Power United Nations Middle East negotiations. 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 arms

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]

Coat of arms of Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon
Crest
Perching on a Tower Sable supported by two Lions' Gambs erect Gules a Cornish Chough proper
Escutcheon
Or on a Chevron engrailed Sable between three Lions' Gambs erect and erased Gules three Wheels Or
Supporters
On either side an African Lion proper charged on the shoulder with the Head of a Trident Or within a Wreath a two Olive Branches leaved and the Stems crossed in saltire Argent, the whole on a Compartment of Rock in the middle thereof a Pit proper
Motto
Pro lege et libertate (For law and liberty)[14]

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. "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. "Life Peerages - C". .cracroftspeerage.co.uk.
  15. "Sarah Foot, writer – obituary", The Daily Telegraph, 6 March 2015.
  16. Geoffrey Holland "Oliver Foot" (obituary), The Guardian, 12 February 2008.

Works

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