Biography of Leslie Malone
25th April 1917 – 12th August 2008

Member of the Legislative Council 1954-1963
Representative for the Fourth District

(Adapted from Empowerment through Representation by the 50th Anniversary Committee of the Legislative Council)

Leslie Franklin Malone

A man of many talents, Mr. Malone was a farmer, fisherman, sailor and builder. Subsequent to his tenure in the Legislature he performed the duties of Building Inspector at the Public Works Department and gained experience in the field of architectural design and blue print. He also performed duties of Farm Manager at the Paraquita Bay Stock Farm.

Mr. Malone could have been a member of the Council elected in 1950, but he chose to postpone his bid for election until 1954 when he was elected as the representative for the fourth district. He was re-elected in 1957 and appointed as Member for Trade and Production.

During his second and third terms, when he served in the Executive Council, Mr. Malone’s fearless defence of the rights of the people was the catalyst that drove to completion many of the measures that laid the foundation for the prosperity which the Islands enjoy today.

Mr. Malone will be remembered for the part he played in the government’s acquisition of land for the Beef Island Airport and the Paraquita Bay Stock Farm; the part he played in encouraging the Little Dix Bay development by Laurence Rockefeller; the part he played in drafting the legislation known as the Alien Land-Holding Regulation Act 1960; the part he played in securing from Her Majesty’s Government permission for the British Virgin Islands to remain outside of the West Indies Federation and to use the U.S. dollar as legal tender.

Other accomplishments with which he is associated are the division of the McNamara Estate into plots which were bought by local persons, the establishment of the Virgin Islands National Bank, and constitutional advancement to a ministerial form of government.

A personal accomplishment of which he was very proud was the setting up of a transportation service for school children, which operated between East End/Long Look and Road Town. This service facilitated attendance at the Virgin Islands Secondary School by students from the eastern end of Tortola.

In 2001, he reflected on his contributions to the development of the Virgin Islands, and said this: “I’m happy and I’m proud to know that I’m a British Virgin Islander, and that I was a legislator and I had dealings with so many of these important factors. There’s nothing much more that I can say, because it was the time. Just like a man going to build a house, he has to sit down, and count his cost and gather his materials. It was in that time. I had to make decisions and good decisions that the British Virgin Islands is benefiting from today.”

Mr. Malone survived his beloved wife, Golda Lettsome, daughter of Francis and Frances Lettsome.  They were married on January 3, 1940 and enjoyed more than 50 years of married partnership before she preceded him in death on October 21, 1996.

He is the father of six children: Annie Malone-Frett, Shirlyn Malone-Penn, Vastie Malone-Stevens, Elvina Malone, Maudrine Malone, and Sidney Malone, and one foster daughter, Daphne Stevens.