My friend David Waterhouse, who has died aged 86, had a significant career in the British Council and, after retirement to Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was influential in developing local cultural activities.
David towered over many of his friends, but he was a big man in other ways too. He was outgoing and confident with an engaging laugh. He had a loud voice and was a good singer. In his youth his physique contributed to his skill at rugby and shot put – he beat the Oxford University freshman’s shot-put record by more than 4 feet and was later selected for the England athletics B team. He had a genuine interest in all those he met and enthusiastically embraced different ideas, cultures and people.
After reading history at Merton College, Oxford, in 1961 David joined the British Council and rose quickly through the ranks. He was head of a number of overseas offices – in Nepal, Nigeria, Zambia, Thailand and Germany. Networking was one of David’s great strengths. His interest in others made them feel valued collaborators, which contributed to his success in meeting the British Council’s core objective of getting people from diverse backgrounds to mix, spreading British culture and the English language. In all this he was strongly supported by his wife, Verena (nee Johnson), whom he married in 1966.
On retirement in 2000, David became chair of the Friends of Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery at a crucial time in its development. He also sang in several choirs and became an active and inspiring chair of Shropshire Music Trust and supported Shropshire Youth Theatre.
He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, for whom he edited a book, The Origins of Himalayan Studies (2004). As part of the British Library’s oral history project, David recorded accounts of British Council staff from around the country, which he greatly enjoyed as talking to people about their lives was what he loved.
Retirement allowed David to pursue his avid collecting of a wide variety of artefacts, including Caughley pottery (he was the picture editor of the Caughley Society’s classic book on porcelain decorations, Caughley: Blue and White Patterns, published in 2012), as well as Nepalese begging bowls, West African trading beads, textiles from all over the world and numerous books on the distant places he had worked.
David was born in London, and brought up in happy extended family in Winchmore Hill, one of the four children of John, a Methodist minister, and Esther (nee Martin), a doctor. For several generations his family had played a significant role in the Methodist church and no doubt David was influenced by their values. However, as an adult he identified as a humanist.
David is survived by Verena, their children, Esther, Tamsin and Ben, and grandchildren, Samuel, Olivia, David, Toby, Stanley, Penny and Bertie, and his brother Robert.
