Alan Urwick

Sir Alan Bedford Urwick KCVO CMG KStJ
Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons
In office 1989–1995
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Victor Le Fanu
Succeeded by	Sir Peter Jennings
British High Commissioner to Canada
In office 1987–1989
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Derek Day
Succeeded by	Brian Fall
British Ambassador to Egypt
In office 1985–1987
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Michael Weir
Succeeded by	Sir James Adams
British Ambassador to Jordan
In office 1979–1984
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	John Moberly
Succeeded by	Sir John Coles
Personal details
Born	(1930-05-02)2 May 1930 London, United Kingdom
Died	8 December 2016(2016-12-08) (aged 85–86) Slaugham, West Sussex
Alma mater	New College, Oxford University

Sir Alan Bedford Urwick KCVO CMG KStJ (2 May 1930 – 8 December 2016) was a British diplomat, who served as Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons from 1989 to 1995.

Early life

Alan Bedford Urwick was born on 2 May 1930, in London. He was the younger of the two children, of Lt. Col. Lyndall Fownes Urwick OBE MC and Joan Wilhelmina Saunders (née Bedford).

Lyndall F. Urwick was one of the British pioneers of scientific management prior to the Second World War. In 1934, he set up his own management consultancy practice, Urwick, Orr & Partners.

Alan Urwick was educated at Dragon School in Oxford, and then at Rugby School in Warwickshire.

Alan Urwick graduated from New College, Oxford, obtaining a first in Modern History in 1952.

Career

Foreign Office

Urwick joined the British diplomatic service in 1952 and undertook tours of duty in Western Europe, the Middle East, Moscow, and Washington, D.C. He served as the United Kingdom's ambassador to Jordan (1979–1984) and to Egypt (1985–1987), and was the British High Commissioner in Canada (1987–1989). He left the diplomatic service in 1989.

Serjeant-at-Arms

He then served as Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons until his retirement in 1995.

Retirement and death

In retirement, Urwick served as the Chairman of the Anglo-Jordanian Society from 1997 to 2001. He arranged for a memorial service to be held at St. Paul's Cathedral following the death of King Hussein of Jordan in 1999.

Urwick died on 8 December 2016, at the age of 86, at his home in Slaugham, West Sussex.

A memorial service was held at St. Margaret's Church in Westminster Abbey on 19 October 2017.

Personal life

Urwick married Marta Montagne, the daughter of the Peruvian ambassador to Lebanon, in 1960 in Beirut. They had three sons together, Christopher, Richard, and Michael. Urwick spoke fluent French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic. Urwick was a member of the Garrick Club and an honorary member of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants.

Further reading

• "Sir Alan Bedford Urwick". Burke's Peerage and Gentry. Retrieved 10 July 2009.