He joined the Civil Service in 1936 at the age of 17,[1] initially in the Post Office[2] During the Second World War he served with the Royal Signals in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Egypt, earning a mention in dispatches and rising to the rank of major.
After Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960 Fingland served briefly at the new High Commission there before being posted to the West Indies Federation to do a similar advisory job; after Trinidad and Tobago gained their independence in 1962 he was Deputy High Commissioner until the following year.
In 1964 Fingland was posted to Rhodesia as Deputy High Commissioner, and was still there in November 1965 when Ian Smith signed the Unilateral Declaration of Independence and a state of emergency.
After three years as assistant Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Fingland was posted as ambassador to Cuba 1972–75 and finally as High Commissioner to Kenya 1975–79, during which time he was also the UK Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme and briefly to the UN Centre for Human Settlements after it was established in 1978 (both UN organisations have their headquarters at Nairobi, Kenya).
"In all his posts, Fingland was utterly lacking in pretension; he was blessed with robust common sense, and was a prescient and practical organiser of unquestionable integrity."