Background
Thomas was born on October 9, 1915, at Greenwich, London, eldest of a labourer’s family of six.
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Thomas Henry Patrick Bashford
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Thomas Bashford was a founder-chairman of the Centre Party, established on August 28, 1968. Leader of Rhodesia’s small band of moderates. Often rebuffed by white die- hards and black nationalists and unable to attract more than 3,000 followers, he persists as a voice in the wilderness urging genuine multi-racial policies.
Education
Educated at Eltham, London and trained as a carpenter.
Career
ave up his job as assistant clerk of works in London at 21 and worked his passage as a third-class steward to South Africa. In 1937 he took a single ticket to Salisbury, found a job in the Public Works Department, and settled in Rhodesia. From 1939 to 1945 he was in the army as sergeant serving in the Middle East and Italy. On his return to Salisbury he became Assistant Secretary to the National Building Board which constructed houses for immigrants. He turned to farming in 1949 at Trelawny and seven years later acquired 3,000 acres of virgin bush to farm at Kuroi, north of Salisbury, under the land settlement scheme.
Politics
His political commitment began through his determination to oppose the Rhodesian Front after its election victory in December 1962. He was attracted to the Rhodesia Party and in May 1965 stood against Justice Minister FL Lardner-Burke of the Rhodesian Front. He lost his deposit.
After founding the Centre Party he was one of the party’s 23 candidates at the April 1970 elections. They polled 5,629 votes—14% of the Rhodesian Front total, but gained seven of the eight African seats contested. All the Party’s white candidates were defeated. In May 1972 he led a delegation to London and met the British Foreign Secretary to urge acceptance of the Anglo-Rhodesian agreement as “the best R is possible to achieve”.
Personality
Gentle and good-humoured, Pat Bashford struggles against the tide as one of the last of the liberals.
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Born
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Nationality
Briton -
Political Party
Centre Party
Career
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August 28, 1968