Frederick James Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers, (21 November 1883 – 19 March 1965), was a British industrialist and public servant. Leathers was born at 47, Bromley Street, Stepney ("London's poor East End district"), son of carpenter Robert Leathers, of Stowmarket,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, and Emily Jane, née Seaman. His father died when he was four months old.Current Biography yearbook vol. 2, ed. Anna Herthe Rothe et al, H. W. Wilson Co., 1941, p. 503 He left school in 1898 at the age of 15 to work with Steamship Owners Coal Association (later merged with William Cory & Son), becoming managing director in 1916. He was concerned also with other companies dealing with coal or shipping services. He served in the management of the Pacific and Orient Lines, where he came to the attention of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, from 1931 a director of the firm. He served as an adviser to the Ministry of Shipping from 1914 to 1918 and 1940 to 1941, and as

Minister of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transpor ...

in 1941 for the duration of World War II, on the appointment and strong recommendation of Churchill, who in so doing raised him to the peerage. In fact, Churchill said of him "At these meetings, (of a subsidiary company of the Peninsular and Oriental shipping lines where Churchill was a director in 1930), I gradually became aware of a very remarkable man. He presided over 30 or 40 companies...I soon perceived that Frederick Leathers was the central brain and controlling power of this combination. He knew everything and commanded absolute confidence. Year after year I watched him...I said to myself "If ever there is another war, here is a man who will play the same kind of part as the great business leaders who served under me at the Ministry of Munitions in 1917 and 1918". On 8 May 1941, I turned to him. To give him the necessary authority I created the office of Minister of War Transport". (The Grand Alliance, pub. Cassell, London, p132. 1966) He attended the

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

, Washington, Quebec, and Cairo conferences in 1943. He negotiated the

lend-lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

of American ships to Britain. He also accompanied the prime minister,

to the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences. He later served as Minister for Coordination of Transport, Fuel and Power from 1951 to 1953. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Leathers, of Purfleet in the County of Essex, in 1941, and appointed a

Companion of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

in 1943. He was further honoured when he was made Viscount Leathers, of Purfleet in the County of Essex, in 1954.

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1883 births 1965 deaths British Secretaries of State British industrialists British people of World War II Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Barons created by George VI Viscounts created by Elizabeth II People from Stepney British businesspeople in shipping {{UK-viscount-stub