7OBITUAR.. . ..<

SIR FREDERICK KEARNS

Agricultural adviser during;

EEC negotiations '

Sir Frederick Matthias Kcarns, KCB, MC, who died on August 7 at the age of 62, had a long and distinguished carecr in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. He played a crucial part in the agricultural aspects of Britain's entry into the European Communities.

As a member of the team which negotiated Britain's terms of entry, and as the chief agricultural adviscr during the renegotiation phase, he did more than anyone else to find ways round the multiple domestic and international agricultural issues that arose. In the process he became widely respected in agricultural circles not only here and elsewhere in the Community but in countries like New' Zealand which werc much affected by the outcome of the negotiations.

Freddie Kearns was born in February 1921 in Burmley and from Burnley Grammar School won his way to Brasenose College, Oxford. He was able to complete his degree therc before entering Sandhurst in 1941. Commissioned in the Royal Fusiliers he saw active service in North Africa and Italy and was awarded the MC in 1944.

One of the "reconstruction" recruits to the post-war Civil Service, he first, came to prominence in 1956 as secretary of the Committee set up after the Crichel Down affair to improve the Ministry of Agriculture's regional organization. As a result of thc Committee's findings a number of Regional Controller posts were set up and Freddie himself was appointed to the one at Newcastle. He was at home in the North and did a great deal to get the new organization going there and to establish good working relations betwecn the Ministry and farming and other interests in his region.

He was brought back to strengthen the Ministry's Finance Division -in 1960 and from there onwards hld a succession of key jobr culminating in his appointment in 1973 to the newly created post of Second Perrnanent Secretary in the Ministry. - -

He retired in i971 and became an adviser to the National Farmers' Union 'nd to more than one leading company connected with the agriculture and food industries.

Kearns was no pallid bureaucrat. His strong-personality was never suffocated by the system or suppressed by any of the demanding jobs which he undertook. He was vivid - in his opinions, his language and his commitment to the public good and to the colleagues with whom he worked. He would brush aside the red herTings and sacrifice the less important in order to achieve the main objective.

He was not a comfortable colleague but he was one Who inspired much affection. Anecdotes about him were many but rarely malicious. Hei used a subtle mind to great effect and had courage when it mattered most. But behind the tough buccaneering exterior, there was another hidden personality, with a deep humility and a strong Christian faith. This found...