Sir Peter Drury Haggerston Gadsden

FREng Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK a ...

(28 June 1929 – 4 December 2006) was a Canadian born British chartered engineer and globe-trotting trader. He was the 652nd

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

in 1979 and 1980.

Background

Gadsden was born in

Mannville, Alberta Mannville is a village in central Alberta, Canada. It is located at the intersection of the Yellowhead Highway and Highway 881, approximately west of Vermilion, Alberta, Vermilion and east of Edmonton, Alberta, Edmonton. Its primary industry is ...

, Canada, where his father, Basil Claude Gadsden, was a missionary priest, accompanied by his wife, Mabel Florence ( Drury). He was the eldest of their three children. His father had been ordained in Australia, and previously served in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. The family returned to England when he was five, and he grew up in a rectory in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. He was educated at

Rockport School Rockport School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls from 2.5 years to 18 years in the British Public School tradition. It is situated in of woodland on the shore of Belfast Lough in Craigavad, near Holywood, County ...

in County Down,

The Elms School The Elms School is a co-educational independent boarding prep school located in Colwall, Herefordshire, England. Including its pre-prep department, it caters for children from 2 to 13 years old. The Interim Headmasters for 2022/23 are David Pea ...

in Worcestershire, and

Wrekin College Wrekin College is an independent co-educational boarding and day school located in Wellington, Shropshire, England. It was founded by Sir John Bayley in 1880 and is known as ‘The School in the Garden’ owing to its extensive grounds a ...

in Shropshire, where he was

head boy Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

. After

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

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

, he read geology and mineralogy at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

Career

In 1952, Gadsden joined Fergusson Wild & Co after graduating, becoming a minerals trader, known as "Trader Gadsden". He set up his own mineral consultancy in the 1960s, and became managing director of the Australian mining company Murphyores in London, in addition to other business interests. He was an honorary Fellow of the

Chartered Institute of Marketing The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) was founded in 1911. It has over 30,000 members, including more than 3,000 registered Chartered Marketers. CIM offers 130 study centres in 36 countries, and exam centres in 132 countries. In 1952 Prince ...

as well as the

Institution of Mining and Metallurgy The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) was a British research institution, founded in 1892. Members of the Institution used the post-nominals MIMM. In 2002, it merged with The Institute of Materials (IOM) to form the Institute of Materials, ...

, a member of the

London Metal Exchange The London Metal Exchange (LME) is a futures and forwards exchange with the world's largest market in standarised forward contracts, futures contracts and options on base metals. The exchange also offers contracts on ferrous metals and precious ...

and an

underwriter Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liabilit ...

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

. Gadsden was a member of seven livery companies, including the

Worshipful Company of Clothworkers The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1528, formed by the amalgamation of its two predecessor companies, the Fullers (incorporated 1480) and the Shearmen (incorporated 1508). It succeeded to the position of t ...

as well as the

Worshipful Company of World Traders The Worshipful Company of World Traders is one of the 110 Livery Companies of the City of London. The Guild of World Traders was constructed in 1985 and it became a Company in 1993. Its petition for livery status was granted by the Court o ...

, and served as founder master of the

Worshipful Company of Engineers The Worshipful Company of Engineers is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The company was founded and became a livery company in 1983 and was incorporated by royal charter in 2004. The company is for chartered engineers of EC(U ...

from 1983 to 1985. Gadsden was elected to the

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. Elections are held at least every four years. It is largely composed o ...

for the ward of

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into tw ...

in 1969, and was appointed

Sheriff of the City of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

in 1970. A year later, he became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

for the ward of

Farringdon Without __NOTOC__ Farringdon Without is the most westerly Ward of the City of London, its suffix ''Without'' reflects its origin as lying beyond the City's former defensive walls. It was first established in 1394 to administer the suburbs west of Ludgat ...

, remaining in that post until 1999: he was senior alderman for the last three years. Gadsden was

in 1979–80 at the age of 50 and was invested as a Knight Grand Cross 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 ...

(GBE). He decided to hold a fireworks display on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

as a climax to the

Lord Mayor's Show The Lord Mayor's Show is one of the best-known annual events in London as well as one of the longest-established, dating back to the 13th century. A new lord mayor is appointed every year, and the public parade that takes place as his or her in ...

, which has now become a regular feature of the event. He was chairman of

Private Patients Plan Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services. The Ax ...

from 1984 to 1996, and then chairman of the PPP Healthcare Foundation until his death. Gadsden was past-chairman and vice-president of the

Britain–Australia Society The Britain–Australia Society was established in 1971 as a friendship society to promote historic links between the United Kingdom and Australia. It has headquarters in the Australia Centre within Australia House in London and branches throughou ...

and served as chairman of the Britain-Australia Bicentennial Committee, leading up to the Australian bicentenary in 1988, for which he was awarded an honorary Companion of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

, that country's highest civilian honour. Despite residing in the United Kingdom, Gadsden retained his Canadian citizenship and passport until his death and worked to further closer ties between both countries.

Family

Gadsden married Belinda Ann Haggerston, eldest daughter and heiress of Sir Carnaby Haggerston, 11th Baronet in 1955; they had four daughters. He adopted the additional surname "Haggerston" by Royal Licence in 1973, after his father-in-law's death. He died of a heart attack in

Middleton Scriven Middleton Scriven is a village and civil parish south east of Shrewsbury, in the Shropshire district, in the county of Shropshire, England. In 2011 the parish had a population of 143. In 2011 Nomis recorded a population of 146. The parish touch ...

in Shropshire aged 77. A biography by Ina Taylor, ''Thoroughly with Enthusiasm'', was published in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gadsden, Peter 1929 births 2006 deaths People educated at Rockport School People educated at Wrekin College Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge 20th-century British engineers Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia British people of Canadian descent English justices of the peace Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Sheriffs of the City of London 20th-century lord mayors of London 20th-century English politicians

Background

Career

Family

Further reading

References