GOVERNOR RICHARD SHARPLES - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/19/1972 - HFSID 81571

RICHARD SHARPLES
In 1972, a week after he became Governor of Bermuda - and less than six months before his assassination - the governor of Bermuda signed this letter to an autograph collector
Typed letter signed: "Yrs Truly/Richard Sharples" and "V W' Croxford", therecipient of the letter. 4½x5½ clipped letterhead of Government House, Bermuda mounted on 5¼x7½ piece of paper. With magazine photo of Sharples and newspaper headlines and clippings of his assassination. Government House, Hamilton, Bermuda, Oct. 19, 1972. Addressed to V.W. Croxford, Esq. In full: "Thank you for your letter dated 20th June, which I have just received on my arrival in Bermuda last week. I was most interested to read of your autograph collection in your letter and the various cuttings you attached. It must indeed be unique, and of great historical interest. I enclose my own autograph, with my good wishes." Sharples (1916-1973) was a British politician and a major in the British army. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam in England and then, in 1970, Minister of State at the Home Office, a position he resigned in 1972 to become Governor of Bermuda. He was assassinated outside Bermuda's Government house while walking his dog on March 10, 1973 by the Black Beret Cadre, a Bermudan Black Power group. Three days of rioting followed the 1977 hanging of his assassins, which had to be quelled by the British army. The unrest led to official talks to end racial discrimination on the island and an unsuccessful independence referendum in 1995. Lightly toned and soiled. Letter and mounting paper are irregular. Letter has been clipped in half. Small cut into mounting paper and photograph near top. Otherwise, fine condition.