Merwyn Norrish CNZM: 28 October 1926-21 May 2021.

• Jurisdiction: New Zealand
• Date: 01 July 2021
• Author: McGibbon, Ian

As the fourth secretary of foreign affairs, and the first to spend his whole public service career in the ministry, Merwyn Norrish presided over changes in New Zealand's diplomatic service that amounted to almost a revolution.

Born in Ashburton, Merv, as he was universally known, was educated at Ashburton High School and Canterbury University, from which he graduated with an MA with first-class honours in 1948. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1949, among the first recruited direct from university. In the same year he married Francoise Honore; they would have a son and a daughter. Throughout Merv's career, they were 'a truly formidable team'.

Merv's first posting was to Paris in 1954-58, where he replaced Paddy Costello. Back in Wellington he headed the Specialised Agencies Division, showing 'an apparently effortless versatility with technical subjects', before going to New York as deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. Assessing his performance at this time, department head Alister McIntosh thought his promotion prospects to be 'unlimited', and so it proved.

After a three-year stint in the department as head of the Economic Division, his next...