Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Leslie Ranfurly Leeder was born on 27 August 1898 in Otago, the fourth son of William Robert and Amelia Jane (née Dungey) Leeder. William and Amelia who married in Central Otago in 1888, had six daughters and five sons. In their early days, Mr Leeder was a miner and moved to various parts of the South Island. Leslie was admitted to George Street Dunedin School in February 1904, joining several of his siblings, and then to Mornington School in March 1905. Mr W. R. Leeder took up duties as engineer to the Timaru Borough Council on 2 May 1910. He had previously been engineer to the Clutha County Council. Several of the family (Arnold, Leslie, Baden, Margaret) started at Timaru South School in June 1910; Margaret and Audrey left Timaru South for Kaikoura in February 1917.

“Master Leslie Fox, son of Mrs P. Fox, Bank Street, leaves for Wellington next week to join the Amokura. Mrs Fox’s eldest son Val recently completed his training on the Amokura and is now an A.B. on the Union Company’s steamer Monowai. Master Leslie Leeder, another Timaru boy, also joins the Amokura next week.” [Timaru Herald, 7 June 1913.] Leslie Leeder was a seaman, his address Strand Hotel, Wellington, when he enlisted at Trentham on 7 March 1916, putting his age up. He had completed two years of Naval Training. Single and of Church of England affiliation, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs W. R. Leeder, High Street, Timaru. While Leslie was serving, Mr and Mrs Leeder moved to Kaikoura. Rifleman L. Leeder embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade of the 8th Reinforcements (Machine-Gun Section), departing for Devonport, England on 26 June 1916 per the “Maunganui”. After almost three years overseas, he returned to New Zealand per the “Carpentaria” which was due at Lyttelton about 17 May 1919. He was discharged on 16 June 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Leslie continued as a seaman, rising through the ranks and serving on various ships. He married Isabel Claudia Sinclair (Isa) in 1926. They had three daughters, the youngest (Lesley) dying in 1942 at the age of three. Leslie and Isabel resided at Lyttelton where they had probably met – Leslie a seaman and Isabel who was born at Lyttelton and active in the British Sailors’ Society and the Red Cross at Lyttelton. Leslie Leeder was drawn in a World War Two ballot.

Leslie Ranfurly Leeder (Toby) died tragically at Auckland on 9 May 1944, aged 45 years. “The chief officer of a ship in port was fatally injured about 2 o’clock this morning when he was crushed between a car and a roadside pole. He was Mr Leslie Ranfurly Leeder, married, aged 46, of 19 Sumner Road, Lyttelton. The officer was riding on the running board or a car travelling along the Manukau Road, and as the car approached the intersection of Manukau and Great South Roads it swerved near the side of the road, and Mr Leeder was caught between the side of the car and the pole. He suffered spinal injuries and shock and died in the Auckland Hospital shortly after 4 o’clock.” [Timaru Herald, 10 May 1944.] He was cremated at Waikumete Crematorium Auckland, on 11 May. On 15 May his ashes were interred in the Soldiers’ Section of Lyttelton Cemetery, where a Services plaque marks his plot. Lyttelton RSA members paid their respects during the interment of ashes. Members of the Canterbury Kilwinning Lodge No. 23 met at his residence in Sumner Road, Lyttelton to pay their respects. Isabel Caudia Leeder died at Coronation Hospital on 21 June 1964, survived by her two daughters and their families, and was buried at Lyttelton with her daughter Lesley June. Two brothers of Leslie also served in World War One – the eldest Erastus William Leeder and Gordon Stanley Leeder.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [23 April 2026]; Timaru Herald, 7 June 1913, 10 May 1944, Press, 28 May 1942, 10 & 15 May 1944, 22 & 28 August 1964 (Papers Past) [25 April 2026]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [20 April 2026]; School Admission records [25 April 2026]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [25 April 2026]; Waikumete cremation record [23 April 2026]; Lyttelton Cemetery headstone images (Find A Grave) [25 April 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.