William Edmund Willoughby-Tottenham

Major William Edmund Willoughby-Tottenham (died 22 August 1962) was British army major and later a politician in Fiji, where he served as a member of the Legislative Council in two spells between 1922 and 1937.

William Edmund Willoughby-Tottenham
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1922–1923
Preceded byHerbert Valentine Tarte
Succeeded byArthur Hallam Roberts
ConstituencyVanua Levu & Taveuni
In office
1926–1937
Preceded byArthur Hallam Roberts
Succeeded bySeat abolished
ConstituencyVanua Levu & Taveuni
Personal details
DiedSuva, Fiji
22 August 1962

Biography

Willoughby-Tottenham fought in both the Second Boer War and World War I.[1] He moved to Fiji after World War I and became a planter in Savusavu.[2] In 1920 he married Mabel Attenborough, who was later awarded an MBE for her work on social services.[3]

After moving to Fiji, Willoughby-Tottenham successfully contested the Vanua Levu & Taveuni seat on the Legislative Council in a 1922 by-election.[4] Although he was defeated by Arthur Hallam Roberts by two votes in the general elections the following year, he returned to the Legislative Council after winning the seat in the 1926 elections. He was subsequently re-elected in 1929 and 1932.

The Legislative Council was reorganised prior to the 1937 elections, with the number of elected European seats reduced from five to three. Willoughby-Tottenham ran in the Eastern constituency, but was defeated by Harold Brockett Gibson. He later unsuccessfully challenged Gibson in the 1940 and 1953 elections.

Outside politics, Willoughby-Tottenham was president of the Fijian St John Ambulance Association and owned the Hot Springs Hotel in Savusavu together with 210 acres of land.[5] He later sold his holdings to Sathi Narain.[6]

He died in Suva on 22 August 1962 at the age of 84.[1]

References
  1. Major W.E. Willoughby-Tottenham Pacific Islands Monthly, October 1962, p153
  2. Four Hundred Capitalists The Shannon News, 15 February 1924
  3. Parish pump Uckfield - September 19, 2014 Sussex Express, 19 September 2014
  4. Fiji Blue Book for the Year 1922, p83
  5. Philip Snow (1997) Years of Hope: Cambridge, Colonial Administrator in the South Seas, and Cricket, p287
  6. Satya Colpani (1996) Beyond the Black Waters: A Memoir of Sir Sathi Narain, pp58–59
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.