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Sir
Alan Bedford Urwick
KCVO CMG KStJ
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	2 May 1930; London, United Kingdom
Died	8 December 2016 (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^[1]) 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.^[2]^[3] He was the younger of the two children, of Lt. Col. Lyndall Fownes Urwick OBE MC and Joan Wilhelmina Saunders (née Bedford).^[1]

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.^[4]

Alan Urwick was educated at Dragon School in Oxford, and then at Rugby School in Warwickshire.^[5]

Alan Urwick graduated from New College, Oxford, obtaining a first in Modern History in 1952.^[2]

Career

MI6

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.^[6] He served as the United Kingdom's ambassador to Jordan (1979–1984) and to Egypt (1985–1987),^[7] and was the British High Commissioner in Canada (1987–1989).^[8] He left the diplomatic service in 1989.^[9]

Serjeant-at-Arms

He then served as Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons until his retirement in 1995.^[6]

Retirement and death

In retirement, Urwick served as the Chairman of the Anglo-Jordanian Society from 1997 to 2001.^[1] He arranged for a memorial service to be held at St. Paul's Cathedral following the death of King Hussein of Jordan in 1999.^[2]

Urwick died on 8 December 2016, at the age of 86, at his home in Slaugham, West Sussex.^[10]

A memorial service was held at St. Margaret's Church in Westminster Abbey on 19 October 2017.^[11]

Personal life

Urwick married Marta Montagne, the daughter of the Peruvian ambassador to Lebanon, in 1960 in Beirut.^[3] They had three sons together, Christopher, Richard, and Michael.^[3] Urwick spoke fluent French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic.^[3] Urwick was a member of the Garrick Club and an honorary member of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants.^[1]^[4]