Brigadier Arthur Kingscote Potter (7 April 1905 – 25 February 1998) was a

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

officer, civil servant and diplomat.

Early life

Potter was born in Dublin, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the son of Richard Ellis Potter and Harriot Isabel Kingscote (b. 22 Dec 1865, d. 3 Apr 1940). He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. Select British > Indian Army > P

Career

He entered the Indian Civil Service on 9 October 1928. In December of that year he was posted to Burma as Assistant Commissioner, and oversaw the Government relief effort following the

1930 Pyu earthquake The 1930 Pyu earthquake occurred on . The epicenter was located north to Bago, Burma, then part of British India. The magnitude of the earthquake was estimated at 7.3, or 7.3. Earthquake Before the earthquake, a tremor occurred at 16:36 UTC, ...

. In 1934 Potter became a District Commissioner in Burma and in 1937 he was appointed Controller of Finance. In 1942, Potter became financial advisor to the

British Burma Army Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the ...

, before serving briefly as Financial Secretary to the Government of Burma. On 1 June 1943 he received a commission in the British Indian Army and subsequently worked as financial adviser to the

11th Army Group The 11th Army Group was the main British Army force in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. Although a nominally British formation, it also included large numbers of troops and formations from the British Indian Army and from British African ...

. From 1944 to 1947 he was Chief Financial Officer to the Military Administration of Burma, and he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1946. In November 1947, he was transferred to HM Treasury, and was the Treasury's representative in India, Burma and Pakistan until 1950. Between 1950 and 1956 Potter was Assistant Secretary at HM Treasury. His final posting was as a Counsellor in the UK Delegation to NATO in Paris from 1956 to his retirement in 1965. Potter was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in the

1957 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1957 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

Personal life

On 20 July 1950, he married Hilda Hodgkinson Butterfield, the daughter of William Arthur Butterfield OBE and Rebecca Emelda Stevenson; they had one daughter, Beatrice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Arthur 1905 births 1998 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford British civil servants British Indian Army officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Indian Army personnel of World War II Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People educated at Charterhouse School Military personnel from Dublin (city)