# David Reddaway

Sir David Norman Reddaway KCMG MBE (born 26 April 1953) is a retired British diplomat who was High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Ireland and Turkey.

## Career

Reddaway was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where his father, Norman Reddaway, also a British diplomat, was posted at the time. He attended King's College School, Cambridge and Oundle School, then studied History at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where his grandfather, the historian William Fiddian Reddaway, had served as Censor. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1975. His career has included assignments to Iran (during the Iranian revolution), India, Spain, Argentina and Afghanistan.
In 2002, his appointment as British ambassador to Iran was rejected by the Iranian government, with some Iranian newspapers incorrectly accusing him of being "a Jew and a member of MI6". He speaks fluent Persian.
He served as High Commissioner to Canada between 2003 and 2006. In 2006 he was appointed the British Ambassador to Ireland and presented his diplomatic credentials to the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese on 12 September 2006, succeeding Stewart Eldon as the ambassador.
He was appointed to Turkey in 2009, and left Ankara in January 2014.
Following his retirement from the FCO, he was Chief Executive and Clerk of the Goldsmiths' Company from 2016-2023.
Reddaway was appointed MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1980, CMG in 1993, and knighted KCMG in the 2013 Birthday Honours "for services to British diplomacy and furthering UK interests in Turkey".
Reddaway had the honour of celebrating his 64th birthday at a Chris de Burgh concert. De Burgh announced Sir David's birthday to a packed audience at the London Palladium on April 26, 2017, and gave a brief account of his role as a diplomat. He then sang the Beatles song 'When I'm 64.'

## Personal

David Reddaway married Roshan Firouz in the late summer of 1981, thereby gaining Louise Firouz as his mother in law. The marriage was followed by the births of the couple's two sons and one daughter. David remarried, to Gabrielle Claire O’Driscoll, in March, 2020.

## Career

* 1975–1977: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Desk Officer for East Germany and the Council of Europe
* 1977–1980: Tehran: 3rd Secretary Commercial; 2nd later 1st Secretary Political
* 1980–1984: Madrid, 1st Secretary Political
* 1984–1986: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Falkland Islands Department, Desk Officer
* 1986–1988: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Secretary to Minister(s) of State
* 1988–1990: New Delhi, 1st Secretary Political
* 1990–1993: Tehran, chargé d'affaires
* 1993–1997: Buenos Aires, Minister & Deputy Head of Mission
* 1997–1999: FCO: Head of Southern European Department
* 1999–2001: FCO: Director Public Services
* 2002–2002: London, UK Special Representative for Afghanistan
* 2002–2003: Harvard, Visiting Fellow
* 2003–2006: Ottawa, High Commissioner
* 2006–2009: Dublin, Ambassador
* 2009–2014: Ankara, Ambassador
* 2016–2023: Chief Executive and Clerk, The Goldsmiths' Company

## Arms

Coat of arms of David Reddaway :
* NotesGranted 1 December 2021 (183/331)
* CrestUpon a Helm with a Wreath Or and Gules Issuing from a Circlet of Leopard’s Faces four manifest Or a demi Persian Ibex proper holding between the legs a Tulip Flower Gules slipped Vert. Mantled Gules doubled Or.
* EscutcheonPer pall Or Azure and Gules in fess two Castles Or enflamed proper and in base a like Castle in chief a Sprig of three Maple Leaves slips conjoined on one stem Gules and veined Or.
* MottoThe Best From Old And New