My uncle David Cargill, who has died aged 88, believed in the value of investment in arts as a catalyst for positive social change, both for his beloved East Anglia and nationally - a belief that he put into action as a national board member for the Arts Council for England between 1988 and 1992.
David was born in Gimingham, Norfolk, to Jessie (nee Henderson) and her husband David Cargill, a farmer who was the doyen of one of Norfolk’s Scottish landowning families. Older brother to Jean and Alan, he was educated at Gresham’s school in Holt, Norfolk, and at the Royal Agricultural College (now the Royal Agricultural University) in Cirencester, before embarking unenthusiastically on a career in farming. A talented hockey player, he met his future wife, Shirley Williams, at the Trowel and Hammer pub in Norwich after a game. They married in 1960 and together they began a lifelong love affair with the arts.
