Sir Arthur Antony Duff (25 February 1920 – 13 August 2000) was a senior British diplomat and

Director General of MI5 __NOTOC__ The Director General of the Security Service is the head of the Security Service (commonly known as MI5), the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency. The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director Gene ...

Early life and naval service

Born in 1920 to Admiral Sir Arthur Allen Morison Duff KCB and Margaret Grace Dawson at Var Trees House,

Moreton Moreton may refer to: People Given name * Moreton John Wheatley (1837–1916), British Army officer and Bailiff of the Royal Parks Surname * Alice Bertha Moreton (1901–1977), English sculptor, draughtsman and artist * Andrew Moreton, a p ...

. Educated at the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

, Duff started his career in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

where he was a submarine commander during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

; he briefly commanded and in 1942 before commanding from December 1942 to July 1944.

Diplomatic career

After the war Duff joined the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in January 1946. He was Counsellor and Head of the Chancery of the United Kingdom Embassy in West Germany from 1962 to 1964, the British Ambassador to Nepal from 1964 to 1965; the Head of the South Asia Department of the Foreign Office from 1965 to 1969; the Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia from 1969 to 1972; and the British High Commissioner to Kenya from 1972 to 1975. Duff was the Deputy Under Secretary for Middle East and Africa from 1975 to 1977; and the Deputy Under Secretary for Defence and Intelligence from 1977 to 1990, including serving concurrently as the Senior Deputy Under Secretary from 1976 to 1979. Having led the British official delegation to the

Lancaster House Lancaster House (originally known as York House and then Stafford House) is a mansion in the St James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St James's Palace, and much of the site was once part of the palace complex. This Gr ...

talks, he became Deputy Governor of Southern Rhodesia under Lord Soames from 1979 to 1980.

Cabinet Office and MI5

Duff was sworn of the Privy Council in 1980, the first diplomat to be so honoured since Sir

Alexander Cadogan Sir Alexander Montagu George Cadogan (25 November 1884 – 9 July 1968) was a British diplomat and civil servant. He was Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1938 to 1946. His long tenure of the Permanent Secretary's office makes ...

in 1940. Duff was Deputy Secretary (Intelligence and Security Co-ordinator) at the Cabinet Office with responsibility for security matters from 1980 to 1984. He was then

Director General of the Security Service __NOTOC__ The Director General of the Security Service is the head of the Security Service (commonly known as MI5), the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency. The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director Gener ...

(

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

) from 1985 to 1988.

Later life

After his retirement in January 1988, Duff worked as a volunteer in a centre for the homeless and was a board member of ''Homeless Network'' in London.Obituary: Sir Antony Duff
''The Guardian'', 18 August 2000

Early life and naval service

Diplomatic career

Cabinet Office and MI5

Later life

References

Further reading