Sir Ralph Dolignon Furse was born in London on the 29 September 1887 and educated at Eton, and Balliol College, Oxford. He joined the Colonial Office in 1910 as Assistant Private Secretary to the Secretary of State, Lewis (later Viscount) Harcourt. During World War I he was on active service in France and Italy; he was wounded in 1917, twice mentioned in despatches, and appointed to the DSO in 1918 with bar in 1919.

Furse rejoined the Colonial Office in 1919 as Assistant Private Secretary, later Private Secretary, to successive Secretaries of State (Viscount Milner, 1919; Churchill, 1921; Duke of Devonshire, 1922; J.H. Thomas, 1924; Amery, 1924, and Lord Passfield, 1929). In 1930 he was appointed Director of Recruitment in the Colonial Service, a post which he held until his retirement in 1948. After retirement Furse served as an adviser to the Secretary of State for the Colonies on training courses for the Colonial Service (1948-1950).

He was appointed CMG (1935), KCMG (1941) and in 1949 the University of Oxford made him an honorary DCL (Doctor of Civil Law). Sir Furse died on the 1 October 1973.