George Fergusson - British High Commissioner to New Zealand (2006-May, 2010)

Until May this year George was the British High Commissioner to New Zealand and Samoa, and the Governor of the Pitcairn Islands. George Fergusson was born in 1955, the son of Baron Ballantrae, who was Governor-General of New Zealand 1962-1967. His middle name "Raukawa" is Maori and reflects the history of Fergussons being appointed to vice-regal posts in New Zealand (two Governors and two Governors-General; George Fergusson is a direct descendant of all four). George joined the Northern Ireland Office in 1978. In 1988 he transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as 1st Secretary (Political) in Dublin. From 1991 to 1993, he was in the Soviet and then the Eastern Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. From 1994, he was 1st Secretary (Political/Information) in Seoul, and in 1996 he returned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London as Deputy Head of the Southern African Department. Later, in 1996, he became Head of the Republic of Ireland Department. In 1999, George Fergusson became Consul-General in Boston, and in 2003 was seconded to the Cabinet Office as Head of the Foreign Policy Team. In 2006 he was appointed High Commissioner to New Zealand and Samoa, and Governor of the Pitcairn Islands and leaves Wellington in May 2010.