Peter Gadsden

Sir Peter Drury Haggerston Gadsden (28 June 1929 – 4 December 2006) was a Canadian-born British chartered engineer and globe-trotting trader. He was the 652nd Lord Mayor of London in 1979 and 1980.

Background Gadsden was born in Mannville, Alberta, Canada, where his father, Basil Claude Gadsden, was a missionary priest, accompanied by his wife, Mabel Florence ( Drury). He was the eldest of their three children. His father had been ordained in Australia, and previously served in the East End of London. He set up his own mineral consultancy in the 1960s, and became managing director of the Australian mining company Murphyores in London, in addition to other business interests.

Gadsden was a member of seven livery companies, including the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers as well as the Worshipful Company of World Traders, and served as founder master of the Worshipful Company of Engineers from 1983 to 1985. A year later, he became an alderman for the ward of Farringdon Without, remaining in that post until 1999: he was senior alderman for the last three years. He decided to hold a fireworks display on the River Thames as a climax to the Lord Mayor's Show, which has now become a regular feature of the event.

He was chairman of Private Patients Plan from 1984 to 1996, and then chairman of the PPP Healthcare Foundation until his death. for which he was awarded an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, that country's highest civilian honour.

Despite residing in the United Kingdom, Gadsden retained his Canadian citizenship and passport until his death and worked to further closer ties between both countries. He died of a heart attack in Middleton Scriven in Shropshire aged 77.

A biography by Ina Taylor, Thoroughly with Enthusiasm, was published in 2004.