David de Pury’s life began at the end of the European imperial era and through his working life he witnessed its devastating legacy; his later career in international development was spent mitigating its effects, empowering grassroots communities on a very practical level.
David was born 1931 in Kasauli, India into a British army family. He spent his childhood and school years mostly in England, in 1939-45 the family – David, his sister Sue and their mother Nan - was separated from his father who was on active service during World War II. After the war the family moved to a smallholding in Frittenden, Kent, where David learned how to cultivate soft fruit and began a lifelong interest in growing traditional English apple types.
Educated at Clifton College and Queen’s College, Cambridge, David completed national service before studying for a degree in modern languages – French, German and Mandarin Chinese. He entered the British diplomatic service and worked at the embassy in Bonn, as Private Secretary to British High Commissioner (later Ambassador) Sir Frederick Hoyer Millar. During this posting David assisted British delegations visiting on observer missions after the Nuremberg Trials.
In 1957 he was posted to the embassy in Beijing as Third Secretary, but shortly afterwards in 1957, David resigned from the Diplomatic Service in protest at the British government’s actions in the Suez crisis.
After a very brief period in the City of London, he joined the Colonial Service as a District Officer in Kenya, where he met his wife Pat, then a Community Development Officer for Women in Kisumu. They married in 1958 and their three children were born during this time. The family left Kenya when independence was declared in 1963.
David entered theological college shortly afterwards and although he did not pursue a life in the church, he had a deep and sustaining faith which he shared with Pat. They were devoted and engaged Christians throughout their lives together. There followed a period of finding a new path, which included a stint in the Hong Kong government (then British) and in industry in the UK.
Encouraged by Pat, he started work for War on Want in 1971 as Field Director in India and Bangladesh. During this time the NGO supported the Gandhian Sarva Seva Sangh, working with millions of refugees fleeing from what was then East Pakistan and soon became Bangladesh in 1971. In 1973 David joined OXFAM, the pioneering NGO dedicated to sustainable development across the Global South. OXFAM’s ethos suited David well. He understood the importance of enabling solutions at a grassroots level, in an indigenous cultural context and dedicated himself to developing OXFAM’s work on projects in India, Cambodia (immediately after the devastation wrought by the Khmer Rouge), sub-Saharan Africa and finally, in one of his most challenging posts, in Sudan. In 1992 David was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for his work in international development with a focus on Sudan.
During his time with OXFAM David also made a significant contribution to wider-ranging research: he helped develop a disaster ‘early-warning’ system in sub-Saharan Africa and led a report on the Arms Race and its cost to nations of the Global South. He reported for the Geneva-based International Council for Voluntary Agencies, advising on strategies to develop support infrastructure for refugees fleeing conflict and climate adversity in Africa.
After he retired to Somerset in 1991, David and Pat continued to host many international guests who got to know each other through knowing them. David was interested in everyone and always believed the best of people he met; he was an ‘elder’ to those he’d worked with, he continued to give advice generously, drawing on his deep and varied experience. One would often find an intriguing and easy combination of people – from locals to visitors from Kolkata or Los Angeles - at their lunch table.
David was an active gardener – planting native apple and fruit trees wherever he could – and loved walking out onto Exmoor. He became increasingly interested in environmental issues and was a keen supporter of local, green politics in the UK. In later years, David and Pat moved to Kent to be near family and their small home was always crowded with their children and grandchildren, neighbours and friends. They remained active members of the community at St Dunstan’s, Cranbrook - regularly on their hands and knees, cleaning the church or climbing to the top of the bell tower to show visitors the view - well into their late eighties.
David de Pury is survived by Pat, his widow; by their children Kate, John and James and their grandchildren Libby, Reuben, Olga, May and Alice.
Kate de Pury
25th January 2024