Henry Everard

Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Breedon Everard GCLM ICD DSO TD (21 February 1897 – 7 August 1980) was a railway engineer and executive who briefly became the Acting President of Rhodesia during the U.D.I. period.

Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Everard GCLM ICD DSO TD
Henry Breedon Everard
President of Rhodesia
In office 31 December 1975 – 14 January 1976 Acting
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	Clifford Dupont
Succeeded by	John Wrathall
In office 31 August 1978 – 1 November 1978 Acting
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	John Wrathall
Succeeded by	Jack William Pithey ad interim
In office 5 March 1979 – 1 June 1979 Acting
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	Jack William Pithey ad interim
Succeeded by	Office Abolished
Personal details
Born	21 February 1897 Barnet, United Kingdom
Died	7 August 1980 (aged 83)
Nationality	British
Political party	Rhodesian Front
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Everard was born in Barnet and educated at Marlborough College and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1922.[1] During the First World War he served in France with the Rifle Brigade, where he was wounded in combat and reached the rank of Captain. He worked as a railway engineer from 1922, but was commissioned again on the outbreak of the Second World War, this time in the Sherwood Foresters; he was taken prisoner by German forces, awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. When repatriated after the war he became an executive of British Railways.

In 1953 Everard moved to Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia to become General Manager of Rhodesia Railways, which he remained for five years before retiring. He supported the Rhodesian Front and stood in for Clifford Dupont (who had been made "Officer Administering the Government") in 1968–69.[2] Following the proclamation of a republic, Everard was Acting President on three occasions between 1975 and 1979.[3]

References

1. The Cambridge University List of Members, 1976
2. Survey of British and Commonwealth Affairs, Volume 2, British Information Services, 1968, page 715
3. Heads of State and Government, John V. Da Graça, Springer, 1985, page 265

Primary sources

• Encyclopaedia Rhodesia (The College Press, Salisbury, 1973)