Arthur Frederick Broadbridge (15 February 1915 – 29 March 2009) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. Born in Elham,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Broadbridge's family emigrated to rural

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

in 1920. In 1932 Broadbridge trained for one year before starting to work as a teacher at Bradgate School, Newpark School and Hillside School in

Invermay Invermay () is a diffuse settlement in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is situated approximately 2 km southeast of Forteviot on the Water of May, some 8 km southwest of Perth. Before the mid 15th century, it was known as ''Innermeath ...

and

Rosetown Rosetown may refer to: Places * Rosetown, South Australia, locality in South Australia *Rosetown, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan, Canada **Rosetown Airport Electoral districts in Saskatchewan * Rosetown (electoral district), former federal e ...

. In 1941, at the outbreak of the Second World War, Broadbridge enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was sent to Vancouver to study radar, at the time a secret technology. As a radar officer, he served in England, Africa, Sicily, Naples, Corsica and Florence. After being demobilized, Broadbridge returned to Saskatoon and married fellow teacher, Mavis Davies, whom he had been courting before the war. As a veteran he received support to attend the University of Saskatchewan where he obtained a Master of Arts degree in history for his thesis titled ''The History of Rosetown, 1904–1939''. He worked briefly as an archivist for the

Saskatchewan Archives Board The Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (formerly the Saskatchewan Archives Board) is an arms-length government agency with offices in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The archives holds public and private records which include audio tapes, video, ...

before taking a civil service exam and joining the foreign service in 1949. Broadbridge was posted to Chicago, Washington, D.C., Cairo, and Berlin before being appointed concurrently as High Commissioner to Malawi and Zambia then later as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Mozambique. His terms for these posts all ended concurrently. In 1977 Broadbridge retired from foreign service and returned his family to Canada. His wife, who had been ill, died soon after their return. In his retirement, Broadbridge published two books: ''The Church of St. Peter, Cobourg, Ontario, 1867–1978'', and a memoir, ''Early Days''. In 1981 he remarried; his second wife was Ada Uren, an old friend who had recently been widowed. Uren died in 2004 and Broadbridge in 2009.

References

External links

Arthur F. Broadbridge fonds at the Saskatchewan Archives
*
The history of Rosetown 1904-1939
' 1915 births 2009 deaths University of Saskatchewan alumni High Commissioners of Canada to Malawi Ambassadors of Canada to Mozambique High Commissioners of Canada to Zambia People from Elham, Kent British emigrants to Canada {{Canada-diplomat-stub