Sir David Gascoigne

David Rendel Kingston Gascoigne was born on 15 January 1940 in the Wairau Valley in Marlborough, on New Zealand's South Island, the son of Keith and Dorothy Gascoigne. The family moved to Blenheim, where he received most of his schooling. At Marlborough College he was dux, the top scholar of his year. He went on to Victoria University of Wellington and graduated with a Master of Laws degree in 1964.

Gascoigne joined the Wellington law firm Watts and Patterson, now Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, and built his career there as a corporate lawyer, eventually becoming chairman of partners. Among his early partners was Patsy Reddy, who later became his wife.

He held many board roles. He chaired Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand, the New Zealand Film Production Fund Trust and New Zealand Opera. He was a director of Transpower New Zealand from 2000 and its chairman until November 2007, chairman of The Co-operative Bank until April 2012, a director of Skycity Leisure, and a board member of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

In public service he was an independent reviewer of the Auditor-General's audit allocation process from 2005 to 2016, and from 2009 he served a six-year term as New Zealand's second judicial conduct commissioner, the official who receives and assesses complaints about judges.

He was a founding trustee of the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts in 1986 and chaired the festival for its 1994, 1996 and 1998 editions, providing strategic and financial leadership in its early years. Until very recently he chaired the Wellington International Arts Foundation Trust.

Gascoigne's first wife was Margaret Louise Campbell. He later married Patsy Reddy, a fellow lawyer and businesswoman. When she was appointed governor-general, he served alongside her as viceregal consort from 28 September 2016 to 28 September 2021, and her successor recalled him as a constant presence at her side. He had two children, Tim and Jo, two grandchildren and a great grandchild.

Sir David Gascoigne died peacefully at home on Monday 26 October 2026, aged 86. A family death notice in the New Zealand Herald said a private cremation had taken place and that details of a celebration of his life would be advised. No cause of death was made public. The Governor-General of New Zealand said she and Dr Davies were deeply saddened, praising his outstanding contribution as a lawyer, through public institutions and as a supporter of the arts. The Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts also paid tribute to a founding trustee and former chair.

Gascoigne is remembered for combining a long legal and business career with steady service to New Zealand's cultural life, especially film, opera and the Wellington arts festival. Tributes credited his leadership with helping strengthen the foundations on which the festival continues to build. His honours, including a knighthood in the New Zealand Order of Merit, recognised that mix of service to business and the arts.