Captain Colin Farley-Sutton: 'The absolute gentleman in every sense'
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Former Vulcan commander Captain Colin Farley-Sutton will be remembered as "the absolute gentleman in every sense" following his death at the age of 91.
Captain Farley-Sutton, who lived at Lynegar, Watten, had also served as a Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness and was involved in many community groups as well as running a bookshop in Thurso.
He passed away in the Town and County Hospital in Wick on Sunday, January 15.
"He was such a nice guy," said close friend Ronnie Sampson, a former chief executive of Scrabster Harbour Trust who now lives in Dunkeld.
"He was a Captain in the Royal Navy, which is a very senior rank. His posting before he went to Vulcan was as assistant naval attaché in Paris.
"Then he went to Dounreay and commanded HMS Vulcan. All engineers and technician operators who were going to serve on a nuclear submarine had to go through the HMS Vulcan course before they joined a submarine.
“He was a Deputy Lord-Lieutenant, he was president of the Caithness branch of the Red Cross, he was a Rotarian in Thurso, and he and his late wife were strongly connected with the Castle of Mey.
"He was a really doughty guy and had a distinguished career. He was the absolute gentleman in every sense."
Lord Thurso, the Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness, said: "Colin was a dedicated and loyal Deputy Lieutenant, appointed by my late father, and he served the county extremely well."
Captain Farley-Sutton's wife Sheila passed away in 2021.
He is survived by two daughters, Louise and Candy, and a son, Nicholas, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Another son, Grant, died in 2017.
Born on December 20, 1931, Colin Farley-Sutton was educated at Rugby College of Technology and Arts before going on to study at the Royal Naval Engineering College at Manadon, Plymouth, and the RN College at Greenwich, where he learned about nuclear propulsion.
He spent 33 years in the Navy. He first served at Vulcan from 1964 to 1967 during its building and initial commissioning.
Captain Farley-Sutton was an assistant naval attaché in Paris for three years in the late 1970s. He also had spells in Singapore and Malaysia while running a ship repair organisation.
He took over command of HMS Vulcan in 1980, succeeding Captain David Hargreaves.
When Captain Farley-Sutton was posted there it was still called “HMS Vulcan” as it was a training establishment. About halfway through his tenure the training was stopped and the site continued in its nuclear propulsion plant prototype testing role, changing to “Vulcan Naval Nuclear Propulsion Test Establishment”.
Over the years, Captain Farley-Sutton became actively involved in a number of business and community organisations in the county.
He was a member of the Rotary Club of Thurso; secretary of the Caithness branch of the Highland Scanner Appeal; president of the Thurso branch of the Royal Naval Association; a management trustee of Scrabster Harbour Trust; chairman of the Caithness branch of the Save the Children Fund; and president of the Caithness branch of the Red Cross.
Captain Farley-Sutton lectured in engineering at Thurso Technical College for a couple of years after he retired from the Royal Navy. He was also a qualified French interpreter.
He was appointed a Deputy-Lieutenant of Caithness 1986 by the then Lord-Lieutenant, the 2nd Viscount Thurso.
In his spare time Captain Farley-Sutton enjoyed golf, fly-fishing and shooting.
Elder daughter Louise said: "We had many happy years in Caithness and it's why my parents decided to stay there when dad retired after his posting as Captain of Vulcan. They had kept up with many of the people they knew from the 1960s.
"They both very much loved living in Caithness and contributing to the county.
"After my dad retired from the Royal Navy they bought a bookshop in Thurso, eventually moving and expanding it to Sir John's Square. Mum particularly enjoyed it.
"Our family visits to Strathy were, and still are, a real treat. We'd stagger down the path – my youngest brother being maybe two – with bags of rugs, toys and towels and a picnic of course. Then there would be a relay back and forth to get everything, plus four very tired children, back to the car at the end of the day.
"We loved it, exploring Strathy's 'secret' caves and pools. It remains one of my favourite places to visit when I come up here."
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
