DEATH OCCURS OF NOTABLE FIGURE IN N.Z. JOURNALISM

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 June 1950, Page 4

DEATH OCCURS OF NOTABLE FIGURE IN N.Z. JOURNALISM

AUCKLAND, This Day (P.A.).— Sir Cecil Leys, chairman of directors of New Zealand Newspapers Ltd., died early this morning at Mackay, Queensland, after a brief illness. Sir Cecil, who was born at Auckland 77 years ago, had been associated with newspapers in New Zealand for most of his life. He was educated at the Auckland Grammar School and Lincoln College and joined the staff of the Auckland Star in 1895. For some years he was the London correspondent of the Star and after service in World War I he returned to Auckland to become the editor of the paper. In 1926 he became managing director of the Auckland Star and in 1929 took a similar position with New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. For many years he had been chairman of directors of the company. He was a former chairman of the Press Association and had represented New Zealand at overseas press conferences. “The death of Sir Cecil Leys is a severe and deeply lamented loss to the newspapers of New Zealand and to the New Zealand Press Association in particular,” said Mr Ernest Blundell, chairman of directors of the New Zealand Press Association in Wellington today. Sir Cecil had a breadth of vision and a keenness of perception that rendered his long service to the association of exceptional value, said Mr Blundell. He had been a director for some 25 years and chairman on a number of occasions. It was during one of his terms as chairman that the entry of New Zealand and Australia into the Reuter partnership was negotiated. Sir Cecil on that occasion enthusiastically supported New Zealand’s entry into that great Empire newsgathering organisation and the benefits that had since accrued to New Zealand and the Empire as a whole from this partnership had amply demonstrated the soundness of the judgment of those who conceived it. ‘Sir Cecil Leys was a most notable figure in the development of journalism in this country,” added Mr Blundell. “Apart from his service to our own association, Sir Cecil took an outstanding part in the affairs of the Empire Press Union, of which he was chairman for some years, and the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association. He will be sadly missed by us all.”