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LESLIE
F. RIDOUT was the Founder, Chairman and
Managing Director of KINGSTON BOOKSHOP.
Born in Weymouth, England, he joined the local
branch of W.H.Smith & Sons Ltd., booksellers,
as a boy in February 1933, working there for six
and a half years. Mr Ridout joined the
British Army in 1939 and saw service through to
the end of the Second World War.
He
was demobilised in Kenya where he joined the
Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK)
Bookshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now
Tanzania) as Assistant Manager. Later he opened a
new bookshop to the south near the Portuguese
border. In 1955 he was appointed Area Manger for
East Africa, with main responsibility for the five
bookshops and the promotion of Christian and
General Literature in Tanganyika.
The
Society, formed in 1698, was a pioneer in many
areas of British influence, and in East Africa was
involved in publishing a large number of books in
Swahili and English for use in schools, Religious
Education, Health and Adult Literacy, keeping true
to the objectives of the Society by promoting
Christian knowledge through literacy and general
education.
Mr. Ridout travelled far and wide
throughout the country and as a result, was very
informed about the cultures and spoke Swahili
fluently. Shortly before the bookshops were handed
over to the respective local Anglican Churches in
1963, he was transferred to the West Indies as
Area Manager for the Caribbean, to oversee the
operations of the twelve SPCK bookshops which
ranged from Belize to Jamaica, through the islands
to Guyana.
In
1973 the SPCK took a policy decision to divest all
their overseas bookshops. Mr. Ridout was
offered the Kingston branch and on February 1,
1974 took it over and re-named it the Kingston
Bookshop Ltd.
On
March 8, 1973, at the 275th Anniversary of the
founding of the SPCK at Holy Trinity Church in
London, Leslie Ridout was presented to Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth as a mark of
appreciation for his work in East Africa. On that
occasion he said: "This year marks 62 very
happy years in bookselling, of which I am very
proud."
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