Sir David Aubrey Scott (3 August 1919 – 27 December 2010) was a British diplomat who served as High Commissioner to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Early life

Scott was the elder son of Hugh Sumner Scott who was a schoolmaster at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

, and his wife, Barbara Easton Jackson, who was a J.P. and county councillor, becoming Chairman of the

Berkshire County Council The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social servi ...

Education Committee. Scott 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 at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

where he studied mining engineering. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. From 1945 to 1947, he was chief radar adviser in the British Military Mission to the Egyptian Army.

Diplomatic career

Scott joined the

Commonwealth Relations Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commo ...

in 1948 where he was assistant private secretary to the Secretary of State in 1949. From 1951 to 1953, he was at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

and then worked in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

from 1954 to 1956. In 1955 Scott was on the Malta Round Table Conference, and was Secretary-General of the Caribbean and Malaya Constitutional Conference in 1956. He served in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

from 1956 to 1958 and was on the

Monckton Commission The Monckton Commission, officially the Advisory Commission for the Review of the Constitution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was set up by the British government under the chairmanship of Walter Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Bre ...

on Central Africa in 1960. From 1961 to 1963, he was Deputy High Commissioner to the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

and in 1964 was at the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

. His next post was Deputy High Commissioner in India from 1965 to 1967 and he was awarded CMG in 1966. From 1967 to 1970, Scott was British High Commissioner in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and non-residential Ambassador to

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. He was Assistant Under Secretary of State at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

from 1970 to 1972 and was

High Commissioner to New Zealand The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to New Zealand is the United Kingdom's foremost Diplomat, diplomatic representative in New Zealand, and head of the UK's diplomatic mission in New Zealand. As the United Kingdom and New Zealand are f ...

and Governor of the

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...

Pacific Union College">Pacific Union College
- The Pitcairn Island Government/ref> from 1973 to 1975 and was awarded KCMG in 1974. He was appointed British Ambassador to South Africa from 1976 to 1979 when he retired and was awarded GCMG.

Later interests

After his retirement, Scott became director of several companies including Barclays">Barclays Bank International from 1979 to 1985, Mitchell Cotts Plc from 1980 to 1986, Delta Metals Overseas from 1980 to 1983, and Bradbury Williams Plc from 1984 to 1986. He was chairman of Ellerman Lines from 1982 to 1983 and of Nuclear Resources Ltd from 1984 to 1988. He was also a consultant to Thomas de la Rue & Co from 1986 to 1988. Scott was also Vice President of the UK South Africa Trade Association from 1980 to 1985. Scott published ''Ambassador in Black and White'' in 1981 and ''Window into Downing Street'' in 2003. He became a Freeman of the City of London in 1982 and liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights in 1983. He became president of the Uganda Society for Disabled Children in 1984 and was Governor of the Sadlers Wells Trust from 1984 to 1989. In 1989 he was a member of the

Manchester 1996 Olympic bid Six cities submitted bids to host the 1996 Summer Olympics (formally known as ''Games of the XXVI Olympiad''), which were awarded to Atlanta, on September 18, 1990. The other candidate cities were Athens (Greece), Toronto (Canada), Melbourne (Aus ...

committee. In retirement, he was first Vice-Chairman then Chairman and finally (from 1998) President of the

Royal Over-Seas League The Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) is a not-for-profit members' organisation with international headquarters in its clubhouse in central London, England. Founded by Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1910 as the Over-Seas Club, it was given a Royal Charter ...

Family

In 1941, Scott married Vera Ibbitson, daughter of Maj. G. H. Ibbitson, and had three children: * Sir Robert David Hillyer Scott (born 1944), businessman *Diana Susan Scott, Lady Unwin (born 1942), married Sir

Brian Unwin Sir James Brian Unwin (born 21 September 1935) is a former British civil servant and an author. He was chairman of the board of HM Customs and Excise and president of the European Investment Bank. He is also an author of historical non-ficti ...

*Andrew Scott (born 1953) is a schoolteacher and choral conductor. Vera died on 2 October 2010, two months before her husband of 69 years, who died on 27 December 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, David Aubrey 1919 births 2010 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of the University of Birmingham British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Uganda Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to South Africa High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Rwanda Governors of Pitcairn British expatriates in Egypt British people in British Malaya British expatriates in Rhodesia Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office