David George Pendleton Taylor

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(5 July 1933 – 8 November 2007) was an English businessman and administrator who served as chief executive of the

Falklands Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about fro ...

and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

Grave of David Taylor CBE in Highgate Cemetery

Taylor was schooled at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

in Bristol"Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p520: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948 where he served as head boy before winning a scholarship to study English at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. He did his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

after which he was posted to

RAF China Bay Trincomalee Bay, also known as Koddiyar Bay, is a bay in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. The bay is located by Trincomalee town on the north-east coast of the island. Geography Trincomalee Bay is open towards the northeast and has th ...

at Trincomalee, in modern-day

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, as a sub-lieutenant (special) in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

s. He joined the Colonial Service in 1958 and was stationed as a District Officer in

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

, which was then part of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. When Tanganyika gained independence in 1964, Taylor went to

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

in South America where he worked for Booker as the head of one of the company's six divisions. In 1976, he went back to Africa where he became chief executive of Booker in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

and later

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. In 1983, Taylor went on secondment from Booker to become the first

chief executive of the Falkland Islands The Chief Executive of the Falklands Islands is head of the public service responsible for the efficient and effective management of the Falkland Islands Government. The appointment, role and powers of the chief executive are set out in the Cons ...

, a post which had been created on the recommendation of the second report by

Lord Shackleton Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, (15 July 1911 – 22 September 1994) was a British geographer, Royal Air Force officer and Labour Party politician. Early life and career Born in Wandsworth, London, Shackleton was the you ...

. During his four years in office, Taylor was credited with helping the Falklands become self-sufficient following the Argentine occupation, as well as years of stagnation before then. Taylor left the islands in 1987, but returned the next year to act as interim chief executive for eight months. Taylor then briefly worked as director of a subsidiary agricultural consultancy at

Booker-McConnell Booker Group Limited is a British food wholesale operator and subsidiary of Tesco. In January 2017, it was announced that the British multinational supermarket retailer Tesco had agreed to purchase the company for £3.7 billion. It was confirm ...

before being appointed

Governor of Montserrat The Governor of Montserrat is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of Montserrat. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The main role of the Governor ...

in 1990, helping to rebuild the Caribbean island after it had been hit by

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peop ...

a year earlier. Taylor retired in 1993 and was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. In 1997, Taylor helped raise money for the reconstruction of Montserrat following the eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano which left most of the island uninhabitable. David Taylor died of a lung condition on the 8th November 2007 and is buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, David George Pendleton 1933 births 2007 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Chief Executives of the Falkland Islands English chief executives British diplomats English Methodists Governors of Montserrat People educated at Clifton College Businesspeople from Bristol 20th-century English businesspeople Civil servants from Bristol