Sir Arthur David Saunders Goodall, (9 October 1931 – 22 July 2016) was a British diplomat. He was High Commissioner to India from 1987 to 1991.

Early life

Goodall was born on 9 October 1931 in Blackpool, Lancashire. His paternal grandfather was from

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was educated at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, and Trinity College, Oxford where he gained first class honours.

Military service

Goodall was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

in the 1950s, he served in Kenya and Cyprus.

Diplomatic career

Goodall joined the diplomatic service in 1956 and served in Austria, Germany, Indonesia and Kenya, before spending 1997-1991 as the British High Commissioner, the equivalent of Ambassador, in India. He also spent time working 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 ...

, where he helped negotiate the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. After his retirement he was Chairman of the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, 1995–2000, and President of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, 1992–2010. During the 1980s, Goodall was one of the most senior British officials representing the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

negotiating with the Irish government on Northern Ireland. Goodall was a Knight of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

(KSG). He died on 22 July 2016 at the age of 84.

Art

Goodall was taught to paint at Ampleforth College, but started to paint seriously some twenty years later after reading

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's book ''Painting as a Pastime''. He worked in ink and watercolour, and held one-man shows in North Yorkshire, London, Durham, Hull and Delhi. He published two books of his paintings: ''Remembering India'' (1997, Scorpion Cavendish; ) and ''

Ryedale Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages and towns. It has been inha ...

Pilgrimage'' (2000, Maxiprint; ).

References

1931 births 2016 deaths People educated at Ampleforth College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford British people of Irish descent British Roman Catholics High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to India 20th-century British painters British male painters Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of St. Gregory the Great People from Blackpool King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry officers Military personnel from Lancashire {{UK-diplomat-stub