Sir Hugh Hall Ragg (26 January 1882 – 24 May 1963)Sir Hugh Ragg Dies In Suva
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', June 1963, pp29–31 was a Fijian businessman and politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1926 and 1950.

Biography

Ragg was born in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

in 1882, the third son of Hugh Hall Ragg. He was educated at the Marist Brothers School in

.New Year Honours in South Pacific
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1947, p9 He worked in business for much of his life, working for firms including Brodziak & Co and Brown & Joske, before setting up his own company, H.H Ragg & Co, which he sold to Morris Hedstrom.Stewart Firth & Daryl Tarte (2001) ''20th Century Fiji: People who shaped this nation'', USP Solutions, pp77–78 He owned several racehorses and served as secretary of the Ba Amateur Turf Club. His first wife, Emma Dora Petrie, with whom he had eight children, died in the

1918 flu epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. He subsequently married Adrienne McMillian in 1920.The legacy of Sir Hugh Ragg
The Fiji Times, 20 April 2015 In his mid-50s he bought a hotel in

Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...

and established the Northern Hotels company. Working with his son David, the company built hotels in Ba,

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

Rakiraki Rakiraki () is a district in Fiji's Ra Province. It is located between Tavua and Korovou when travelling along the Kings Road, on the northern coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. At the 1996 census, the Rakiraki district had a population ...

and

Sigatoka Sigatoka ( ) is a town in Fiji. It is on the island of Viti Levu at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, for which it is named, some 61 kilometres from Nadi. Its population at the 2017 census was 17,622. It is the principal urban centre for the pr ...

during the 1950s. Their Korolevu Beach Hotel, built in 1953, was the first

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

in Fiji. He was knighted in the

1947 New Year Honours The 1947 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 31 December 1946.Operational M ...

Political career

Ragg contested the Northern constituency in the 1926 Legislative Council elections, unseating the incumbent

Henry Lamb Kennedy Henry Lamb Kennedy (died 25 January 1933) was a Fijian politician who served for two terms in the Legislative Council. Biography Kennedy was born in New Zealand and attended King's School in Auckland.1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and 1932 elections. When the number of elected European seats was reduced from six to three prior to the 1937 elections, he ran in the Northern and Western seat against fellow incumbent

John Percy Bayly John Percival Bayly (4 January 1882 – 12 January 1963) was a Fijian businessman, politician and philanthropist. Biography Bayly was born in Levuka in 1882.Stewart Firth & Daryl Tarte (2001) ''20th Century Fiji: People who shaped this nation'', ...

, winning by 54 votes. Ragg was returned unopposed again in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

and defeated Bayly for a second time in the 1944 elections. Prior to the 1947 elections Ragg announced that he would not run for re-election.Fiji Elections
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', August 1947, p7 However, he was chosen as one of the two nominated European members for another term. During his time in the Legislative Council, he served in the Executive Council between 1945 and 1954, and was also member of the Town Boards of both Ba and Lautoka. His older brother

Amie Amie may refer to: *Amie, an alternate spelling of the female personal name Amy *AMIE, the Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers, a professional certification given by India's Institution of Engineers *Amie (song), "Amie" (song), song f ...

was also an MLC. He died at his home in the Tamavua area of Suva in May 1963. His funeral was described by ''

Pacific Islands Monthly ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', commonly referred to as "PIM", was a magazine founded in 1930 in Sydney by New Zealand born journalist R.W. Robson. Background ''Pacific Islands Monthly'' was started in Sydney in 1930. The first issue ran in August ...

'' as "probably the biggest ever seen at Suva."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragg, Hugh 1882 births People from Suva People educated at Marist Brothers High School, Fiji 20th-century Fijian businesspeople Knights Bachelor Members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Members of the Executive Council of Fiji 1963 deaths