David Small

Died: September 3, 2015

DAVID Purvis Small, who has died aged 84, was a diplomat who worked his way up through the ranks and retired as High Commissioner to Guyana and Ambassador to Surinam in 1990.

He was born in Craigneuk, the third child of Joseph and Ann and brother to Harry, Betty, Jean and Joseph. Times were hard but he grew up with a great sense of belonging to a large extended family that helped and supported each other.

He attended St Patrick’s, Shieldmuir, and Our Lady’s High School in Motherwell and was a keen member of the Air Training Corps. His actual flying time was extremely limited but he recalls one memorable sightseeing flight which he spent raising and then lowering the landing gear by hand which left him with a pretty jaundiced view of the whole affair. On landing at RAF Turnhouse and whilst trying to free a stuck aircraft hatch he and the sergeant loadmaster managed to kick it open but he then fell to the runway at the feet of the rather surprised ground-staff. Luckily he still had his parachute on which cushioned his fall, surely one of the shortest parachute jumps on record.

He joined RAF Transport Command for his national service between 1949 and 1951 and, on completion, joined Metropolitan Vickers before joining the Admiralty in 1953 serving as clerical officer in Bath between 1953 and 1955, as an executive officer in Rosyth between 1955 and 1958, Singapore between 1958 and 1960 and the Admiralty in London between 1960 and 1961.

In 1951 he met Patricia Kennedy. They married in 1957 with their first son, Joe, born in Singapore in March 1959 and then John, in equally exotic Govan in August 1960.

He joined the diplomatic service in 1961, initially posted to London and then as chief clerk in Madras, India between 1962 and 1964 before being posted as Second Secretary to Ibadan, Nigeria between 1964 and 1968. He recalls being advised “never to knowingly lie, to learn to keep a straight face and to learn to read documents upside down”. David, the last of his three sons, was born in Ibadan in June 1965.

While Pat and the boys were evacuated overnight from Nigeria a few months before the start of the Biafran civil war, Mr Small remained behind eventually leaving on the last ship in 1968. His services in Nigeria were rewarded with an MBE. Private and self-effacing to the last, he never talked of his work there, save for references to distributing communication aerials, masquerading as flag poles, to keep in touch with the British community scattered up-country. He was intensely private, especially about his work, right to the end.

In 1968 he was posted to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, where he would serve until 1973, first as Second Secretary and then later as First Secretary and Head of Chancery.

In 1973 he was posted to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Pat and David lived in Farnborough, their first UK house, with David (junior) joining Joe and John at school in Scotland.

In 1976 he was appointed Head of Chancery in Dacca before being posted to Stockholm in 1980 as First Secretary Commercial, then to Copenhagen as Counsellor Economic and Commercial in 1982 and culminating as the High Commissioner to Guyana and non-resident Ambassador to Surinam in 1987. Before taking up his post as High Commissioner he was invited, with Pat, to have tea with the Queen in Buckingham Palace. Normal service was resumed the following day as he found himself in the salubrious setting of the B & Q car park in Paisley eating fish and chips.

He retired in 1990 to Strachur, Argyll and was made a Companion to the Order of St Michael and St George.

His achievements proved that despite coming from a working class Scottish background and without the benefits of a university education, you can succeed against all odds by hard-work and determination. The lines from Henley’s poem Invictus, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul", could have been written for him.

He and his wife retired to Strachur in 1990 where he turned his formidable intellect and energy to charitable works helping the church, the Children’s Liturgy Group, the local school and the Royal British Legion, amongst others. He also rekindled his passion for football, golf, gardening, The Herald’s Wee Stinker crossword (his winner's T-shirt was a prized possession) and developing his IT skills.

He was a keen supporter of the Strachur Pipe Band who, in recognition of his support, composed a pipe tune which was played at his funeral. He was also a life-long Celtic fan following, their exploits over his short-wave radio and through welcome copies of the Celtic View whilst overseas.

A few weeks after their 40th wedding anniversary Pat fell seriously ill and after a relatively short illness passed away in February 1998 at the young age of 64.

Her death, after 47 years together, was a terrible shock and the pain, loss and loneliness were clearly visible to those around him. He threw himself into helping others and often commented that he worked harder than before his retirement. His subsequent marriage to Pauline five years later in June 2003 and re-location to Dunoon brought him companionship until his death.

People will remember him in many ways. He was a gentleman, a safe pair of hands, dependable and energetic with a reputation of toughness and fairness. He never forgot where he came from and with his feet firmly on the ground remained true to his upbringing. Not for him the trappings of the “Ferrero Rocher” lifestyle especially if the alternative was a fish supper.

He is survived by Pauline, his three sons, Joe, John and David and his grandchildren, Katherine, Michael, Andrew, Rebecca and Rory.