Sir David Durie, who has had a career in the public service, was Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Gibraltar, from 2000 to 2003. Between 1995 and 2000 he was Director General for Enterprise and Regions in the Department of Trade and Industry (the DTI) in London, and before that he was UK Deputy Permanent Representative (ie, Deputy Ambassador) to the European Union in Brussels.

Earlier responsibilities include a variety of posts in the DTI and its predecessor Government Departments in London, the Cabinet Office and First Secretary in Paris.

After retiring from the public service he has had a number of part-time posts including, from 2004 to 2006, chairing the charity known as the Responsibility in Gambling Trust which helps problem gamblers. A member for 9 years of the National Advisory Committee on Archives, an Independent member of the Greater London Authority Standards Committee until 2012, Chairman of the Durie Family Association Vice, vice-chair of Governors of C of E Primary school for 12 years. He was also a volunteer Gamesmaker during the London 2012 Olympics. He has also developed an interest in heraldry and genealogy

David was born in Glasgow, and was a scholar at Fettes College, Edinburgh before going on to Christ Church, Oxford. He graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Physics before joining the Ministry of Technology in 1966. He was a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was knighted KCMG in 2003. He is also a Knight of St John (KStJ).

Western Mediterranean and Gibraltar

• Gibraltar Yesterday and Today (1 or 2 lectures as required)
• The Rock as Fortress War II and Beyond
• Brtitain's Dilemma - Gibraltar or Minorca (as British bases in the Eighteenth Century)
• The Glories of Al-Andalus (Moorish Spain)
• Visigothic Spain and the Moorish invasion
• Sθte and the Canal du Midi
• Port or Claret?
• Il Risorgimento, the making of Italy (the Risorgimento and Italian unification)
• Napoleon, the 100 Days from Elba to Waterloo

Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey

• The Rise and the Fall of the Ottoman Empire ( 1 or 2 lectures)
• The Ottoman Empire: Scourge of Europe
• The Doge v the Sultan (the 300 year struggle for the Eastern Mediterranean)
• From Jerusalem to Malta and Clerkenwell! (The story of the Hospitaller Knights of St John)
• Byron and Greek Independence
• Nelson, the Nile, Naples,and Lady Hamilton
• Ragusa (Dubrovnik) Defiantly independent
• The Olympic Games, Ancient and Modern including life as a volunteer Games Maker at London 2012

Northern Europe and the Baltic

• The Spanish Armada - Spanish Pride and English (P)Luck
• Joan of Arc - Saint or Adventurer?
• The Shetland Bus - Hands across the Sea to Norway in World War ll
• The Race for the Poles - the Heroic Years
• The Hanseatic League – cartel or common market?
• The Viking Lords of the (Scottish) Isles
• The Viking Terror
•
The United Kingdom

• Mary, Queen of Scots, the Tragic Queen
• Highland Laddie (?) - the story of Bonny Prince Charlie and the 1745 uprising
• St Patrick and St Columba spread Christianity in Ireland and Scotland
• An Introduction to Hraldrry - Reality snd Fantasy

Lecturing since 2012 with Discovery, Saga and Viking Ocean, so far mainly Mediterranean related but extending to N Europe. Subjects include many aspects of Gibraltar, the Ottomans, Venice, Byron and Greek independence, Nelson and Lady Hamilton,other Nelson related topics,Visigoths and Moors in Spain, the Knights Hospitaller, Canal du Midi, independent Ragusa (Dubrovnik) Hanseatic league, Vikings in Scotland, Heraldry (with particular reference to Scotland) etc, the Jacobite uprisings, Montrose and the Covenanters, sail-away talks on Istanbul, Venice, Gibraltar, current European issues.

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.