A. Edgar Calder-Potts who died on January 22nd at his home in Glenleigh, Clogheen, at the age of 86 was, by any standards, an outstanding personality with a fine but intricate character. In many ways, he was larger than life with his physique, great energy and interest in so many things from the simple arts of mankind to the problems of real human progress in a sophisticated, swiftly changing world.
Above all, Edgar was interested in people. Rank, status, reputation mattered little to him; he was interested in discovering the true nature of the man or woman behind the facade. His friends, in many parts of the world, ranged from the able and successful to the completely humble. Edgar had a great generosity of spirit which shone through his relationships, activities and approach to life. There was no doubt that he could at times be exasperating, domineering, opinionated and difficult, but all this was leavened and moderated by his sense of humour which could be touched off by "knowing" friends and relatives and, particularly, by his devoted wife, Gypsy. Her disability from Alzheimer's Disease over the past four years was the greatest sorrow of his life. Even the all-organising Edgar could not overcome the problems that this sad development entailed.
Born in Patagonia in the Argentine to an English father and an Afrikans mother, the major part of this much travelled man's life was spent in South Africa. He had the broadest experience of working, from farming, gold, diamond and copper mining to market trading. He had a string of trading posts in East Griqualand and Basutoland (now Lesutho) and installed black African managers in them in the 1950s to the consternation of some of his strongly apartheid neighbours. He helped form the Progressive Party in South Africa and he was a firm believer in the gradual emancipation of black people with introduction to responsibility for Government.
I had met Edgar in the Royal Navy in late 1944 when we formed a firm and undying friendship but although we kept up correspondence throughout the period I did not see him again until 1961, when he brought Gypsy and their four sons via London on the way to settling in Ireland. He had written to tell me of his decision to come with the words "the lid is going to come off in South Africa soon because of the blind prejudice and intransigence of the dominant leaders." He was sad to leave South Africa, which he frequently re-visited in later times but came to love Ireland very much - the people more than the climate!
Edgar was a man of infinite resource and skill, but also a born organiser and delegator. Faced with the prospect of being unable to bring money out of South Africa in 1961, he provided for the young family and prospered by growing hops and apples on a farm outside Kilkenny. When he retired from active farming he bought Glenleigh where he and Gypsy had a lovely wild garden of about 15 acres, much visited by friends and open to the public. Gypsy was the guiding light on the flowers and plants as Edgar was on the trees and waterfalls.
He kept up with many friends in different parts of the world and took a real interest in world affairs. When I was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election in 1962, he wrote me a long letter telling me how to organise the country! Although a great admirer of Nelson Mandela and Mary Robinson on the liberal side of life, he also had high regard for Lee Quan Yew in Singapore and Roy Welensky in Rhodesia with their much more conservative approach. He did not have a stereotyped approach to politics. Essentially, he was a liberal but, in no way an idealistic one. Not a religious man, he nevertheless was a firm believer in the Christian ethic, and in the essential dignity of man and woman kind and this guided his life.
This big-hearted, unorthodox, generous, eccentric man and loyal friend did for me what I believe he did for others in many parts of the world. He enhanced my appreciation of life.