Sir David Francis Muirhead (30 December 1918 – 3 February 1999) was a British diplomat, ambassador to Peru, Portugal and Belgium.

Career

Muirhead was educated at

Cranbrook School, Kent Cranbrook School (formerly Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School) is a co-educational state funded boarding and day grammar school in the market town of Cranbrook, Kent, England. Selection is made of pupils at age 11 and 13. History The school w ...

where he was a Cadet Serjeant in the

Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

.The London Gazette, 13 July 1937
/ref> He was commissioned in the

Artists Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regimen ...

in 1937 with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1939, having passed the Officers Examination at

RMC Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

, he was appointed to the

Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the First and Second World W ...

and served during the

Second World War 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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

South-East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

.MUIRHEAD, Sir David (Francis)
Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007, retrieved 25 March 2012 In 1946 he passed the Foreign Service Examination and was appointed to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

. He was appointed

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

in 1948,The London Gazette, 27 July 1948
/ref> and posted to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1949,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1950, the Foreign Office in 1953,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in 1955 and the Foreign Office again in 1959, where he was

Under-Secretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

1966–67. He was British Ambassador to Peru 1967–70, to Portugal 1970–74 and to Belgium 1974–78. He was a Special Representative of the

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

1979–94, was a member of the Council of St Dunstan's 1981–89 and a Commissioner of the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

1981–86. He was appointed CVO in 1957, CMG in 1964, and knighted KCMG in 1976.Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 January 1976
/ref> He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Portuguese

Military Order of Christ The Military Order of Christ is the former order of Knights Templar as it was reconstituted in Portugal. Before 1910 it was known as the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was ...

and the Grand Cross of the Peruvian Order of Distinguished Service.

Personal life

In 1942 David Muirhead married the Hon. Elspeth Hope-Morley, daughter of the 2nd

Baron Hollenden Baron Hollenden, of Leigh in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1912 for Samuel Morley, who had previously served as Governor of the Bank of England. He was the son of Samuel Morley and Rebekha ...

and Lady Hollenden, née the Hon. Mary Gardner, daughter of

Herbert Gardner, 1st Baron Burghclere Herbert Colstoun Gardner, 1st Baron Burghclere, (9 June 1846 – 6 May 1921) was a British Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until he was raised to the peerage in 1895. He served as President of the Board of Agricu ...

. They had two sons and one daughter. Lady Muirhead (as she became) died in 1989.

References

* Obituary, The Times, 10 February 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Muirhead, David Francis 1918 births 1999 deaths People educated at Cranbrook School, Kent British Army personnel of World War II Artists' Rifles soldiers Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Peru Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Portugal Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Belgium Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Order of Christ (Portugal)