Sir Leonard Crossland (2 March 1914 – 5 August 1999) was an English automobile executive who filled a succession of increasingly high level appointments with

Ford of Britain Ford of Britain (officially Ford Motor Company Limited)The Ford 'companies' or corporate entities referred to in this article are: * Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, incorporated 16 June 1903 * Ford Motor Company Limited, incorporat ...

, culminating with the chairmanship which he held between 1968 and 1972. Born in Yorkshire, Crossland joined Ford in 1937 and worked in the purchasing function until 1939 before leaving to join the British

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

between 1939 and 1945: these were, for Britain, the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following a series of promotions his appointment as Managing Director, in succession to

Stanley Gillen Stanley James Gillen (August 10, 1911 – July 1978) was an Ohio born automobile executive who filled a series with high level appointments in the United States and subsequently in Europe with the Ford Motor Company. Gillen joined the Ford M ...

, was announced in June 1967. In May 1968, on the official retirement of Sir Patrick Hennessy, Crossland was elected to the Chairmanship. After his Ford chairmanship, he acquired several subsequent directorships in the auto-sector. Crossland married in 1941 to Rhona Marjorie Griffin. The marriage produced two recorded daughters. He was also married to Joan Brewer who was the sister of Beryl Gilliat married to the writer and film director

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. He was the son of George Gilliat, editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1928 to 1933. Sidney was born in the district of Edgeley in Stoc ...

, and therefore related to

Amanda Eliasch Amanda Eliasch (born 1960) is an English photographer, artist, poet and filmmaker. Early life Amanda Eliasch was born in Beirut, Lebanon, 13 May 1960, where her father Anthony Cave Brown worked as a foreign correspondent for the ''Daily Mail' ...

and Toby Brown. He died in Great Wigborough, Essex on 5 August 1999 at the age of 85 and was buried in the churchyard of St Stephen.

References

1914 births 1999 deaths People in the automobile industry Ford executives 20th-century British businesspeople British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Service Corps soldiers {{UK-business-bio-1910s-stub