Dick Campbell (public servant) explained

Dick Campbell
Office:Chairman of the Public Service Commission
Term Start:1 November 1946
Term End:31 March 1953
Appointer:Peter Fraser
Predecessor:John H. Boyes
Successor:George T. Bolt
Order2:High Commissioner from New Zealand to the United Kingdom
Term Start2:1 April 1958
Term End2:30 September 1958
Predecessor2:Clifton Webb
Successor2:George Laking
Birth Name:Richard Mitchelson Campbell
Birth Date:28 August 1897
Birth Place:Whangārei, New Zealand
Death Place:Edinburgh, Scotland

Richard Mitchelson Campbell (28 August 1897  - 17 November 1974) was a New Zealand economist, civil servant (holding the position of Chairman of the Public Service Commissioner), and diplomat.

Biography

Campbell was born at Whangārei in 1897 to Scottish parents. He attended Whangarei High School and in 1914 joined the public service working at the Department of Education. In February 1918 he enlisted in the army, only to be discharged a month later as mobilisation was being scaled back.

In 1935 he became an economic advisor at the New Zealand High Commission in London. There he managed New Zealand's negotiations over access to the British market for New Zealand meat. After accompanying finance minister Walter Nash to Britain and Europe, from 1940 to 1945 he had an unhappy period as Secretary of the New Zealand High Commission in London, as Campbell and the High Commissioner, ex-politician Bill Jordan disliked each other.

He served as Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1958 following five years as the official secretary.[1]

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1953 Coronation Honours. He also received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.[2]

Campbell later lived in Eastbourne, East Sussex. He died on 17 November 1974 while visiting Edinburgh. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and son.

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Heads of Missions List: U . New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade . 8 July 2006 . 30 September 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060930064841/http://www.mfat.govt.nz/about/ipd/homslistu.html.
  2. News: Coronation Medal . Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette . 37 . 3 July 1953 . 17 April 2021 . 1021–1035.