Archibald Peter Sturrock Forbes

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(5 May 1913 – 27 January 1999) was a Scottish colonial officer who was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative Development in

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania M ...

(now

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Biography

Forbes was born in Delwood,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, the son of Elizabeth Lilian Forbes (née Campbell) and Alexander Menzies Forbes. His family moved to Scotland and he was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He studied for a BSc at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, then going on to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

to take a Diploma in Agriculture, and finally the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

(Trop Ag). He also worked with

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

between 1963 and 1985, serving as a Trustee and Member of the Administration Committee.

Colonial service

He joined the Colonial Service and in 1937 became an agriculture officer in

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasal ...

. He was promoted to Senior Agriculture Officer in 1946, becoming Chief Agriculture Officer in 1953. During this time he worked on the

Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme The Tanganyika groundnut scheme, or East Africa groundnut scheme, was a failed attempt by the British government to cultivate tracts of its African trust territory Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania) with peanuts. Launched in the aftermath of Wor ...

.The Tanganyikan Groundnut Scheme - San Jose State University Study
/ref> He became Deputy Director of Agriculture in 1954, Director of Agriculture in 1958, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative Development in 1960. In the same year, he was appointed

. When Tanganyika achieved independence in 1963, he undertook consultancy work in Africa and Asia until 1978. He consulted for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

, Nordic Engineering and natural resources technology firms.

Personal life

He married Mary Manning (daughter of Captain Robert William Manning) on 10 June 1939. Together they had two children. His daughter Heather was married to Peter Loxton, son of

Bill Loxton Wilfrid William Loxton (20 January 1909 – 2 November 1992), known as Bill Loxton, was a British Royal Air Force pilot during the Battle of Britain. Loxton was born in Gretton, Gloucestershire, the son of Ernest Robert Loxton and Mary Ann ...

. He died in 1999 in

Winfrith Newburgh Winfrith Newburgh (), commonly called just Winfrith, is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is about west of Wareham and east of the county town Dorchester. It was historically part of the Winfrith hundred. In the 2011 Census ...

, Dorset.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Archie 1913 births 1999 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British colonial governors and administrators in Africa Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at George Heriot's School Nyasaland people Tanganyika (territory) people