Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon

The Right Honourable The Lord Caradon GCMG KCVO OBE PC
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations
In office 16 October 1964 – 19 June 1970
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Patrick Dean
Succeeded by	Sir Colin Crowe
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Foreign Affairs (1964–1968)
In office 16 October 1964 – 19 June 1970
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	The Earl of Dundee Peter Thomas
Succeeded by	Joseph Godber Richard Wood
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 27 October 1964 – 5 September 1990 Life Peerage
Governor of Cyprus
In office 3 December 1957 – 16 August 1960
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Sir John Harding
Succeeded by	Cyprus gained independence
Governor of Jamaica
In office 7 April 1951 – 18 November 1957
Monarchs	George VI Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Sir Winston Churchill Sir Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Sir John Huggins
Succeeded by	Sir Kenneth Blackburne
Personal details
Born	(1907-10-08)8 October 1907 Plymouth, England
Died	5 September 1990(1990-09-05) (aged 82) Plymouth, England
Spouse	Florence Sylvia Tod ​ ​ (m. 1936; died 1985)​
Children	Paul, Sarah, Oliver, and Benjamin
Parent(s)	Isaac Foot Eva Mackintosh
Relatives	Sir Dingle Foot (brother) The Lord Foot (brother) Michael Foot (brother) John Foot (grandson)
Education	Leighton Park School
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge

Hugh Mackintosh Foot, Baron Caradon GCMG KCVO OBE PC (8 October 1907 – 5 September 1990) was an English colonial administrator and diplomat who was Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and the last governor of British Cyprus.

Early life and education

Hugh Mackintosh Foot was born in Plymouth on 8 October 1907. He was educated at Leighton Park School in Reading, Berkshire, and went on to study at St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1929.^{[citation needed]} He was president of the Cambridge Union and also of the Cambridge University Liberal Club. His three politically active brothers, Dingle, John and Michael, were all educated at Oxford and all became presidents of the Oxford Union.

Career

Hugh Foot's career in the diplomatic service was both long and distinguished. In Mandatory Palestine, he served as the assistant district commissioner for the Nablus region.^[1] During the Second World War he was appointed as British Military Administrator of Cyrenaica, and served as Colonial Secretary of Cyprus from 1943 to 1945. After the War, he served as Colonial Secretary of Jamaica, 1945–47, Chief Secretary for Nigeria, 1947–50 and was appointed to be the Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of Jamaica in 1951,^[2] a post he held until 1957.

He returned to Cyprus as the last colonial Governor and Commander in Chief on 3 December 1957^[3] until 1960, when Cyprus gained independence. In 1961, he became British Ambassador to the United Nations Trusteeship Council. After the Labour Party won the 1964 general election, Foot became Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representatives from the United Kingdom to the United Nations from 1964 to 1970. Caradon worked with Charles W. Yost on the Four Power United Nations Middle East negotiations. During his tenure as Permanent Representative, he was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1968 New Year Honours.^[4] After his retirement, he became a visiting fellow at Harvard University and Princeton University.

In 1964 Foot was granted a life peerage as Baron Caradon, of St Cleer in the County of Cornwall,^[5] the title referring to Caradon Hill on Bodmin Moor, not far from Trematon Castle, which was his country home. He jokingly claimed to be glad to be divested of the surname "Foot", which he considered a standing invitation to wags, as he liked to illustrate by recalling a telegram his father received on his election to parliament: "Foot, congratulations on your feat!" Foot was an active freemason.^[6]

Honours and arms

Foot was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1939 New Year Honours^[7][8] and elevated Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1946 Birthday Honours.^[9] He was elevated Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1951 New Year Honours^[10] and was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) on 27 November 1953.^[11] In the 1957 Birthday Honours, he was elevated a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).^[12]

Coat of arms of Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon

Crest Perching on a Tower Sable supported by two Lions' Gambs erect Gules a Cornish Chough proper Escutcheon Or on a Chevron engrailed Sable between three Lions' Gambs erect and erased Gules three Wheels Or Supporters On either side an African Lion proper charged on the shoulder with the Head of a Trident Or within a Wreath a two Olive Branches leaved and the Stems crossed in saltire Argent, the whole on a Compartment of Rock in the middle thereof a Pit proper Motto Pro lege et libertate (For law and liberty)^[citation needed]

Family

He was one of the four sons of the Liberal Member of Parliament Isaac Foot, his three brothers being the politician Sir Dingle Foot, the life peer Lord Foot, and the journalist and Labour Party leader Michael Foot. "We were proud to be nonconformists and Roundheads", Caradon once wrote of his family: "Oliver Cromwell was our hero and John Milton our poet."

Foot married Florence Sylvia Tod in 1936. She predeceased him in 1985. They had three sons and a daughter together:^{[citation needed]}

• Hon. Paul Mackintosh Foot (8 November 1937 – 18 July 2004), a journalist
• Hon. Sarah Dingle Foot (24 September 1939 – 28 February 2015), also a journalist^[13]
• Hon. Oliver Isaac Foot (19 September 1946 – 6 February 2008), a charity worker who led Project Orbis International^[14]
• Hon. Benjamin Arthur Foot (born 19 August 1949)

Foot died in Plymouth, aged 82, on 5 September 1990. He was survived by his four children.

References

1. Samuel, E.H. (1970). A Lifetime in Jerusalem: The Memoirs of the Second Viscount Samuel. Transaction Publishers. p. 131.
2. "No. 39166". The London Gazette. 9 March 1951. p. 1226.
3. "No. 41246". The London Gazette. 6 December 1957. p. 7115.
4. "No. 44484". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1967. p. 1.
5. "No. 43475". The London Gazette. 27 October 1964. p. 9125.
6. "Power of the Masons – Myth of Menace?". Sunday People. 13 July 1986.
7. "No. 34585". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1938. p. 18.
8. "No. 15559". The Edinburgh Gazette. 6 January 1939. p. 26.
9. "No. 37598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1946. p. 2761.
10. "No. 39104". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1950. p. 4.
11. "No. 40043". The London Gazette. 15 December 1953. p. 6816.
12. "No. 41089". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1957. p. 3370.
13. "Sarah Foot, writer – obituary", The Daily Telegraph, 6 March 2015.
14. Geoffrey Holland "Oliver Foot" (obituary), The Guardian, 12 February 2008.

Works

• Lord Caradon, "The Obligation of Optimism", Conspectus of History 1.8 (1982): 1–9.

External links

• Entry in Encyclopædia Britannica

Government offices
Preceded by Sir John Huggins	Governor of Jamaica 1951–1957	Succeeded by Sir Kenneth Blackburne
Preceded by John Harding	Governor of Cyprus 1957–1960	Cyprus became independent