Archibald Peter Sturrock Forbes

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 (now Tanzania).

Biography

Forbes was born in Delwood, Saskatchewan, Canada, 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 private primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Lauriston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. It was ...

in Edinburgh. He studied for a BSc at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, then going on to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

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, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

(Trop Ag). He also worked with

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

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 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 Nyasaland. After ...

. 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 W ...

.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 Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, 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. 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 British expatriates in Tanganyika (territory)