Obituary: Ian Cameron, stockbroker, prime minister's father

Published on Thursday 9 September 2010 18:59

Ian Cameron, stockbroker. Born: 12 October, 1932, in London. Died: 8 September, 2010 in France, aged 77.

Ian Cameron was devoted to his family and conquered serious adversity with a determined zeal.

When he was born his legs were severely deformed, and he needed to undergo several operations and to wear special raised boots. But this did not deter him in his youth; he was a keen sportsman at Eton ("I can do everything except ski," he told contemporaries) and played tennis and shot for many years.

He also remained a passionate bridge player throughout his life. Cameron's mother gave him the strength to rise above his adversities and lead a normal and fully independent life. He became senior partner in one of the long established City stockbroking firm, Panmure Gordon, and a director of the estate agents John D Wood.

His family had long connections with Scotland. His great-grandfather, Sir Ewen Cameron, came south from Invernesshire in the 1860s to work for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Both his grandfather and father were senior partners of Panmure Gordon. The family maintained an estate in Aberdeenshire, Blairmore House, which was built in the 1880s by a forebear who had made a fortune in Chicago. Blairmore is now a Christian retreat although for many years it was a school.

Cameron also had connections with the royal family; he was the fifth cousin to the Queen twice removed through a daughter of William 1V. He also held age-old connections with various branches of the Scottish nobility. Cameron's father married Enid Levita, the granddaughter of Sir Alfred and Lady Agnes Duff, who were connected with the Earls of Fife and were chiefs of the Clan MacDuff.

Ian Donald Cameron was born with malformed heels and his shins were shortened in many operations in his youth. He had just three toes on one foot and four on the other.

After Eton he trained as an accountant - a period of his City life he did not much enjoy - and then after two years with the merchant bankers Robert Fleming he followed his father into Panmure Gordon.

At first Cameron ran the gilt-edge department and was made a full partner in 1957. Panmure had excellent connections in Scotland - both institutional and corporate - and Cameron often visited the investment trusts in Edinburgh (then) centred around Charlotte Square.

Cameron was a popular and respected City figure - unrepentantly "old school" - who commuted from his home in Berkshire every day.

Panmure Gordon was taken over after deregulation in the City by an American bank. He remained a consultant with the firm when it was, in turn, taken over by a German bank in the 1990s.

In later years, when both his legs were amputated, he only used a wheelchair when absolutely necessary: he preferred to get about on artificial limbs.In a television interview before the general election, his son said: "My father is a huge hero figure for me. He's an amazingly brave man because he was born with no heels - quite a disability. But the glass with him was half-full, normally with something alcoholic. I think I got my sense of optimism from him."

A great joy was to visit his son in 10 Downing Street and for Sunday lunch at Chequers. His son called him "a great lover of life" and Cameron senior - the Prime Minister referred to him as "the Dad" - remained proud of all his children's achievements. He never got to meet his latest grandchild, Florence, who was born to David and Samantha last month.

Cameron was a quiet, courteous man who is remembered both by colleagues in the City and friends in Berkshire with much affection. They admired his optimistic triumph over a lifetime of hardships.

He was a member of the parish council, a former High Sheriff of Berkshire and an ex-chairman of White's. Cameron was an avid follower of the turf and had shares in several flat racing horses.

Nothing typifies the resolve of Ian Cameron more than the short entry in the autobiography of his nephew Ferdinand Mount, who was an adviser of Margaret Thatcher. When Mount recounts the rise of David Cameron through the ranks of the Conservative Party, he writes: "The chutzpah that has propelled cousin Dave to such startling heights undoubtedly comes from his stalwart and irrepressible father, Ian, on whom no flies rest."

Ian Cameron, who suffered a stroke while on holiday in France, married, in 1962, Mary Fleur Mount, daughter of Sir William Mount, Bt. She survives him with their two sons and two daughters.