Edwin Leather

Sir Edwin Hartley Cameron Leather (22 May 1919 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born British Conservative politician. He served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the British colony of Bermuda from 1973 to 1977.

Leather served during World War II as an officer, first with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and later with the Toronto Scottish and Royal Canadian Artillery. After the war, he worked as an insurance broker in England. In 1950, he was elected to the UK Parliament as the member for North Somerset. He was a backbencher throughout the period of Conservative governments from 1951–1964. He became a UK citizen and was knighted in 1962. Poor health caused him to retire as an MP in 1964. Following the murder of Sir Richard Sharples, Leather was appointed Governor of Bermuda in 1973. He served in the post until 1977 when he retired but remained on the island.

Education

Leather was born in Hamilton, Ontario on 22 May 1919,

Career

Military service During the Second World War, Captain Leather served with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Canadian Army in England and Europe. He wrote a manual for the Home Guard called "Combat without Weapons". He worked as an insurance broker in England and an Anglican lay reader.

During his time as Governor of Bermuda, Sir Edwin made a significant effort to include a number of influential Bermudians as part of the vice-regal household. Among them were Rev. Thomas Nisbett, Bermuda's first Black Church of England priest (later Canon Thomas Nisbett), and Major Clinton Eugene Raynor, promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and appointed Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Regiment, the local-service regiment of the British Army organised on territorial lines, from 1980 to 1984 (Lt-Col Clinton Eugene Raynor, OBE, ED, JP, was later Honorary Colonel of the Royal Bermuda Regiment).

Personal life

Leather married Sheila Greenlees in 1940; they had two daughters. Leather's home was Park House, Batheaston. His wife predeceased him in 1994.

Leather was an accomplished gymnast and founded the International Sports Fellowship.

During the First World War, Leather's father, Harold, served in East Africa with the Army Service Corps, finishing the war as a lieutenant. Upon his return to Canada he established Leather Cartage in Hamilton Ontario. During the Second World War, Harold Leather was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (1943) for his work in coordinating the Red Cross parcel scheme in Canada. He would go on to become Chairman of the Canadian Red Cross Society.

Publications

Sir Edwin Leather monograph, 'Memorandum on a Choice of Countries', 1943. Sir Edwin Leather 'Human Nature and the Profit Motive', ts. draft for book begun 12 April 1943. The novel features the character, Rupert Conway, of Leather's previous three novels. Sir Edwin Leather 'Combat without Weapons', handbook, Aldershot: Gale & Polden, 1942 The Vienna Elephant (Dodd, Mead 1977, Macmillan 1978, Pinnacle p/b 1981) The Mozart Score (Doubleday 1979, Macmillan 1979) The Duveen Letter (Doubleday 1980, Macmillan 1980)