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 Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

from 1973 to 1977.

Education

Leather was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada. He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, in 1937. He was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

in 1976.

Career

During the Second World War, Captain Leather served with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Canadian Army in England and Europe. He was badly injured in a practice jump when his parachute failed to open. He rejoined his Battalion for D-Day. He served in Europe during World War II with the Toronto Scottish and Royal Canadian Artillery.http://www.freemenlondon.org/newsletters/2005-03-CompanyComment.pdf Edwin Leather Obituary He wrote a manual for the Home Guard called "Combat without Weapons". He worked as an insurance broker in England and was secretary of the Central London branch of the Association of Supervisory Staff, Executives and Technicians. At the 1945 general election Leather stood without success in the Bristol South constituency, but at the 1950 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The council is based in Weston-super-Mare, the area's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Clevedon, Nailsea ...

. He was a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

throughout the period of Conservative governments from 1951–1964. He supported the Unions, and held office in the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians and supported the miners. Leather never held political office but was a popular speaker at Party Conference and other events, as well as on radio and television. He was a One Nation Tory; he forcefully opposed racism and supported the European Union. Leather was proposed for a knighthood but, still a Canadian citizen, required the support of the Canadian government which had not made any honour recommendation for some years; Prime Minister

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...

declined to support the recommendation. He was eventually knighted in 1962 when he was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

, having taken British citizenship. He quit Westminster in 1964 because of illness. Poor health and the low pay for MPs forced Leather to retire from Parliament at the 1964 general election and enter business. He returned to the political scene a few years later, as vice-chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, taking a leading role in fund raising and at Party Conference. In 1973, following the murder of Sir Richard Sharples, Leather was appointed Governor of

. Despite the assassination of his predecessor and an aide, he lived informally and mixed with locals; he continued to live in Bermuda after his retirement in 1977. He came to the attention of the Commissioner of the Bermuda Police Force after riding his bicycle recklessly. He became the local representative of N M Rothschild & Sons and wrote several thrillers. As Governor, his nickname was "Imperial Leather", a pun on his surname, position and the famous brand of soap. He was appointed in 1974 and in 1975 became the first Canadian to be appointed KCVO since the future 1st Lord Shaughnessy in 1907. Leather was an active freemason and an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

lay reader In Anglicanism, a licensed lay minister (LLM) or lay reader (in some jurisdictions simply reader) is a person authorised by a bishop to lead certain Church service, services of worship (or parts of the service), to preach and to carry out pastoral ...

. 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 N. Nisbett, Bermuda's first Black

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

priest (later Canon Thomas Nisbett), and Major Clinton Eugene Raynor, promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and appointed Commanding Officer of the Bermuda Regiment (since 2015 the Royal Bermuda Regiment), the local-service regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

organised on

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

lines, from 1980 to 1984 (Lieutenant-Colonel Clinton Eugene Raynor, OBE, ED, JP, was later Honorary Colonel of the Royal Bermuda Regiment). He was an accomplished gymnast and founded the International Sports Fellowship. Leather was a freemason.

Family

Edwin Leather's parents were Harold and Grace Leather. Leather married Sheila Greenlees in 1940; they had two daughters. Leather's home was Park House, Batheaston.Edwin Leather fonds http://library.mcmaster.ca/archives/findaids/findaids/l/leathere.03.htm During the First World War Harold Leather 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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(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. He died in Hamilton, Ontario.

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)

References

Books

* Preston, Adrian & Dennis, Peter (eds.) (1976) ''Swords and Covenants''. Totowa: Rowman and Littlefield (#4237) * Preston, Richard Arthur (1969) ''To Serve Canada: a History of the Royal Military College of Canada''. Toronto:

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calendar. Its first s ...

(#H16511) ** Preston, Richard Arthur (1982) ''Canada's RMC: a History of Royal Military College''; 2nd ed. (#H16511) * Preston, Richard Arthur (1968) ''R.M.C. and Kingston: the effect of imperial and military influences on a Canadian community''. Kingston, Ontario (#H16511) * Smith, R. Guy C. (ed.) (1984) ''As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember''. 2 vols. Volume I: 1876–1918. Volume II: 1919–1984. Kingston, Ont.: RMC; The R.M.C. Club of Canada (#H1877)

External links

Sir Edwin Leather – Obituaries, News – The Independent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leather, Edwin 1919 births 2005 deaths Politicians from Toronto Royal Military College of Canada alumni Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Canadian Anglicans Canadian Knights Bachelor Canadian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Canadian Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 Governors of Bermuda Canadian Army personnel of World War II Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom Military personnel from Toronto Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Rothschild & Co people Anglican lay readers Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery officers 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion