Sir Thomas Spurgeon Page

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(19 October 1879 – 10 February 1958)Lorna E. Webb (1995) ''Chintali'', Newton Publishers was a Northern Rhodesian politician who was a member of the Legislative Council and its first

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

Biography

Page was born in Newington in Surrey to Thomas and Louisa Page; the family initially lived in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, before moving to Sutton. One of six children, he was the only boy, and attended the City of London School.Nancy R. Purchase, H. Graham Purchase (2008) ''Genealogy of the Purchase Family in Britain and Southern Africa: The Ancestors of Harvey Spurgeon Purchase, 1906–1968, and the Descendants of James Purchase, 1689/90-1723/24'', pp70–71"Three New Members in N. Rhodesian Council", ''East Africa and Rhodesia'', 5 October 1944 After leaving school at 15, he worked at his father's solicitors offices, before joining a firm that imported German goods as a clerk. After volunteering for a Baptist church in Sutton, he moved to Nyasaland as a missionary in 1899. He was initially based in Cholo, where he was given the nickname 'Chintali' ("the long one") on account of his height. During his time in Nyasaland he learnt to speak Chewa. Page moved back to England in 1901 after suffering from

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, but returned to Africa, relocating to

Fort Jameson The city of Chipata is the administrative centre of the Eastern Province of Zambia and Chipata District. It was declared the 5th city of the country, after Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone, by President Edgar Lungu on 24 February 2017. The c ...

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

in 1907 to join his sister Grace and her husband farming cotton and tobacco. Page married Elsie Harris in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in Southern Rhodesia on 4 June 1910, having met her in Long Sutton in 1902. The following year the couple created their own farm on virgin land, which was named Kapundi. They went on to have two daughters, born in 1911 and 1913. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was away from Northern Rhodesia for three years, initially serving with the Nyasaland Volunteer Reserve and stationed near Fort Johnston, before joining the Nyasaland Field Force,"Sir Thomas S. Page", ''East Africa and Rhodesia'', 1958, p760 in which he became a captain. After the war he was offered a job managing a tobacco farm named Msekera, eight miles from Fort Jameson. In the mid-1920s he began managing a tobacco packing business, where he worked until starting a lorry transport business in 1932, moving goods between Northern Rhodesia and Salisbury. His wife died in February 1935. In the September 1935 general elections Page contested the Eastern seat, but was defeated by John Bruce. He ran again in the 1938 elections, this time winning the seat and becoming a member of the Legislative Council. In 1939 he bought a cottage on the outskirts of Fort Jameson and became the secretary of the Eastern Tobacco Board and the Farmers' Association, as well as doing bookkeeping. In the 1941 general elections he contested the new seat of

North-Eastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and was re-elected unopposed. The following year saw Page appointed Price Controller and Fuel Controller for Northern Rhodesia, holding the former post until 1948 and the latter until 1945. The new jobs required him to move to

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

. He remarried in March 1943, taking Edith Mortlock as his wife. He was re-elected to the Legislative Council again in the 1944 elections, defeating Grant Robertson. Page did not stand in the August 1948 elections, but on 10 November he was appointed the first Speaker of the Legislative Council, replacing the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

who had previously presided over the legislature.Ng'ona Mwela Chibesakunda (2001) ''The Parliament of Zambia'', p35 Having already been appointed a

in 1947, in 1956 he was knighted in the Birthday Honours for public service.Supplement to the London Gazette
31 May 1956, p3100 He retired as Speaker in October that year. He died on 10 February 1958 in

and was buried in the city three days later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Thomas 1879 births 1958 deaths People from Newington, London People from Croydon People from Sutton, London People educated at the City of London School English Baptist missionaries British emigrants to Zambia British Army personnel of World War I Zambian farmers Members of the Legislative Council of Northern Rhodesia Baptist missionaries in Malawi