Murray, Leon Albert, MBE
1938-2023

Born in the village of Tranquillity, Portland, Jamaica, he left school at 16 to work on the family farm. He came to Britain in 1961 and settled in Wellington, Shropshire, attended the local technical college and in 1965 went to work for GKN, becoming a production supervisor. He was a member of Wellington Methodist church and a local preacher from 1977. He served on the connexional Board of the Division of Social Responsibility, among others, and on the Race Relations committee of the British Council of Churches. He travelled to many parts of the world on behalf of Methodism.

In 1985 he was elected the first black Vice-President of the Conference and was given two years leave with full pay and expenses by GKN to fulfil this role. He was then seconded to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, where he worked until 1998 in a special department called Birmingham Venture, as an advisor to people wanting to set up small businesses. From 1983 he was been a magistrate on the Telford Bench and in 2004 was made a deputy lieutenant of the County of Shropshire. He was a member of the West Mercia Probation Board and the board of Youth Support Services of the West Mercia area. He died on 14 January 2023.

Category: Person
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