Robert Hunter Wade (14 June 1916 – 7 July 2011) was a New Zealand diplomat.

Biography

Wade was born in Balclutha in 1914. He was educated at

Waitaki Boys' High School Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students. The ...

before attending first

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

then

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

where he graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

. In 1939 he began work at the New Zealand Treasury and Marketing Department. In 1941 he married Avelda Grace Petersen with whom he had two sons and two daughters. From 1941 to 1943 he was the official secretary of the New Zealand delegation at the

Eastern Group Supply Council The Eastern Group Supply Council (EGSC) was a wartime body set up in British India in 1940 to co-ordinate the build-up of war materiel in the British colonies and dominions east of Suez, with the goal of reducing the amount of supplies shipped from ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

then working in the New Zealand government offices. In 1947 he became assistant secretary of the New Zealand High Commission in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. From 1951 to 1956 Wade was the first secretary of the New Zealand embassy in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

before becoming director of the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri ...

Bureau, Colombo from 1957 to 1959. He was then head of the external aid division at the Department of External Affairs from 1959 to 1962. Wade was New Zealand's Commissioner to Singapore from 1962 to 1963. From 1963 to 1967 he was High Commissioner of New Zealand to Malaysia. His time in Malaysia coincided with the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation where New Zealand diplomatically and militarily supported the Malaysian government. He was then posted to London and was New Zealand's deputy High Commissioner. Briefly in 1968 he served as acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for a period after Sir Thomas Macdonald retired from the post and before a permanent successor could arrive in London. He was New Zealand Ambassador to Japan (as well as Ambassador South Korea, resident in Tokyo) from 1969 to 1972. From 1972 to 1974 he was

Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General The Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth assists the Secretary-General in managing the operations of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is the central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. The current Deputy Secretary-General is Dr ...

for Economic Affairs and Development. He was then New Zealand Ambassador to West Germany from 1975 to 1978.

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

was his last posing and Wade retired in 1978. His wife died in 1991 and he died at his home in Howick in 2011. He was survived by three of his children and six grandchildren.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Hunter 1916 births 2011 deaths People educated at Waitaki Boys' High School University of Otago alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni 20th-century New Zealand diplomats High commissioners of New Zealand to Singapore High commissioners of New Zealand to Malaysia High commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of New Zealand to South Korea Ambassadors of New Zealand to Japan Commonwealth deputy secretaries-general Ambassadors of New Zealand to West Germany