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.