Ted Leather served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the British colony of Bermuda from 1973 to 1977.
22 Facts About Ted Leather
1.
2.
Ted Leather graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, in 1937.
3.
Ted Leather was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of Bath in 1976.
4.
Ted Leather was badly injured in a practice jump when his parachute failed to open.
5.
Ted Leather served in Europe during World War II with the Toronto Scottish and Royal Canadian Artillery.
6.
Ted Leather wrote a manual for the Home Guard called "Combat without Weapons".
7.
Ted Leather worked as an insurance broker in England and was secretary of the Central London branch of the Association of Supervisory Staff, Executives and Technicians.
8.
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 for North Somerset.
9.
Ted Leather supported the Unions, and held office in the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians and supported the miners.
10.
Ted Leather never held political office but was a popular speaker at Party Conference and other events, as well as on radio and television.
11.
Ted Leather was a One Nation Tory; he forcefully opposed racism and supported the European Union.
12.
Ted 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 declined to support the recommendation.
13.
Ted Leather was eventually knighted in 1962 when he was made a Knight Bachelor, having taken British citizenship.
14.
Poor health and the low pay for MPs forced Ted Leather to retire from Parliament at the 1964 general election and enter business.
15.
Ted Leather 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.
16.
In 1973, following the murder of Sir Richard Sharples, Leather was appointed Governor of Bermuda.
17.
Ted Leather came to the attention of the Commissioner of the Bermuda Police Force after riding his bicycle recklessly.
18.
Ted Leather was appointed in 1974 and in 1975 became the first Canadian to be appointed KCVO since the future 1st Lord Shaughnessy in 1907.
19.
Ted Leather was an active freemason and an Anglican lay reader.
20.
Ted Leather was an accomplished gymnast and founded the International Sports Fellowship.
21.
Ted Leather married Sheila Greenlees in 1940; they had two daughters.
22.
Ted Leather would go on to become Chairman of the Canadian Red Cross Society.