David Fursdon

Edward David Fursdon (born 20 December 1952) is an English landowner and former cricketer.

David Fursdon serves as the current Lord Lieutenant of Devon.

Early life, military service and cricket The son of Major General Francis William Edward Fursdon, and his wife, Joan Rosemary Worssam, he was born in 1952 at Bitchet Green, Kent. After attending Sherborne School, Fursdon was commissioned into the 6th Gurkha Rifles as a Second Lieutenant in February 1972, serving in Brunei and British Hong Kong. He had previously won a scholarship to the University of Oxford, where after military service he studied at St John's College from October 1972–July 1975.

While studying at Oxford, Fursdon made his debut in first-class cricket for Oxford University against Gloucestershire at The Parks in 1973. He played first-class cricket for Oxford until 1975, making sixteen appearances. Playing as an all-rounder, he scored 479 runs for Oxford at an average of 22.80 and a top score of 112 not out, which was his only first-class century and came against Cambridge University in The University Match of 1975. With his right-arm medium-fast bowling, he took 37 wickets at a bowling average of 35.94, with best figures of 4 for 13. He also made a single first-class appearance for a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricket team against the touring Indians in 1974, In addition to playing first-class cricket while at Oxford, he also made four List A one-day appearances for the Combined Universities cricket team which defeated two first class counties in the 1975 Benson & Hedges Cup. He gained two cricket blues while at Oxford

Fursdon attended the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) 1984/06 (elected Honorary Fellow in 2016), qualifying as a rural surveyor (FRICS) and worked as an equity partner, land agent and property auctioneer at Stags until 2003. He was Board Chairman (2003–05) and then President (2005–07) of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), was a Commissioner of the Affordable Rural Housing Commission in 2005/06 and was a member of the Board of both the Crown Estate (2008–16) and English Heritage (2010–14).

In 2014 Fursdon became Chairman of Dyson Farming and in 2017, a Commissioner and subsequently (2019) a Trustee of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission.

High Sheriff of Devon for 2009/10, since 2015 Fursdon has served as Lord Lieutenant of Devon, being appointed CStJ in 2018 and awarded an Hon DSc from Harper Adams University in 2017.

With his wife, Catriona née McCreath (m. 1978), he has three sons and five grandchildren.