Leonard G. Usher

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Leonard G. Usher's signature

Sir Leonard Gray Usher (born May 29, 1907 in Paeroa , New Zealand ; † 2003 in Suva , Fiji ) was, among other things, school director, Mayor of Suva (1966-1969 and 1975-1977), co-founder of the Fiji Broadcasting Commission, publisher and editor of Fiji Times (1957–1972) and Chairman of the Fiji Development Bank.

Life

Leonard Usher was born in Paeroa, New Zealand in 1907 and attended the Auckland Grammar School and the University of Auckland .

In February 1930, at the age of 23, he moved to Fiji to teach at Levuka Public School. He later became the school principal and city council member in Levuka, until he finally became director of the Queen Victoria School.

In 1943 he finished teaching and became a government official for public affairs, then a founding member of the Fiji Broadcasting Commission, but also an experienced radio commentator.

Usher was persuaded in 1957 by RW Robson, then owner of the Fiji Times, to take over the running of the newspaper and then left government administration. In the following 16 years he rebuilt it into a successful printing and publishing group.

During and after his publishing activities, he was mayor of Suva four times from 1966–1970 and 1975–1976. He was also chairman of the Fiji Development Bank and vice chairman of the National Bank of Fiji and chairman of the Fiji Stock Exchange. Nonetheless, Usher stayed with the media z. B. as coordinator of the Pacific Islands News Association or secretary of the Fiji Press Council.

As early as 1970 he assumed the nationality of Fiji, in 1971 he was knighted as Commander (CBE) and in 1986 as Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).

In the year of the first two military coups in 1987 and thereafter, he ceaselessly informed William Heseltine , Queen Elizabeth II's private secretary, about the situation in Fiji. And even four years after a new Fiji constitution in 1990, he wrote to the successor private secretary Robert Fellowes .

In 2003, Len Usher died in Suva. From two marriages he leaves behind a son named Miles and a daughter named Lala.

Publications

  • Fiji: Handbook of the Colony - special wartime edition A. Barker, 1943
  • Brief History of The Fiji Times - Paper read to the Fiji Society . (PDF) October 15, 1962
  • Mainly about Fiji - selected writings, broadcasts, and speeches, 1930–1987 Suva, Fiji 1987
  • Letters from Fiji 1987–1990 - An on-the-spot record of what happened before, between and after two military coups Fiji Times Limited, Suva, Fiji 1992
  • More Letters from Fiji 1990-1994 - First years after a post-coup Constitution Information Services South Pacific, Suva, Fiji 1994

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stuart Inder: Dedicated and distinguished in his adopted land. The Sydney Morning Herald, September 19, 2003, accessed April 4, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Phoebe Falconer: Obituary: Sir Leonard Usher. NZ Herald, September 5, 2003, accessed April 4, 2020 .
  3. ↑ No. 45268 (Supplement), p. 49: Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) CBE The London Gazette , December 31, 1970, accessed April 10, 2020 (English).
  4. ↑ No. 50364 (Supplement), p. 37: Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) KBE The London Gazette , December 30, 1985, accessed April 10, 2020 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Usher, Leonard G.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Usher, LG; Usher, Leonard Gray; Usher, Len
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand-Fijian school principal, Mayor of Suva, publisher and editor
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Paeroa , New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH 2003
Place of death Suva , Fiji