Name Hugh Baron Children Paul Foot | Siblings Michael Foot | |
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Died September 5, 1990, Plymouth, United Kingdom Books Greece and Cyprus in History, My Devon Education University of Cambridge, St John's College, Cambridge Similar People Isaac Foot, Michael Foot, Dingle Foot, Paul Foot | ||
Hugh Mackintosh Foot, Baron Caradon (8 October 1907 – 5 September 1990) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat who presided over moves to independence in various colonies and was UK representative to the United Nations.
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Early life and education
Hugh Mackintosh Foot was born in Plymouth on 8 October 1907. Foot was educated at Leighton Park School in Reading, Berkshire, and then at St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1929. 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
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. During the Second World War he was appointed as British Military Administrator of Cyrenaica, then was Colonial Secretary of Cyprus from 1943 to 1945. After the War, he served as Colonial Secretary of Jamaica, 1945–1947, Chief Secretary for Nigeria, 1947–1950 and was appointed to be the Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of Jamaica in 1951, a post he held until 1957.
He returned to Cyprus as the last colonial Governor and Commander in Chief in 1957 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 British Ambassador to the United Nations from 1964 to 1970. During his tenure as Permanent Representative, he was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1968 New Year Honours. 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", 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!"
Honours
Foot was appointed to the Order of the British Empire as an Officer (OBE) in the 1939 New Year Honours and to the Order of St Michael and St George as a Companion (CMG) in the 1946 Birthday Honours. He was promoted to be a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 1951 New Year Honours and was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order as a Knight Commander (KCVO) on 27 November 1953. In the 1957 Birthday Honours, Foot was promoted to be a Knight Grand Cross in the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).
Styles of address
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:
Foot died in Plymouth, aged 82, on 5 September 1990. He was survived by his four children