Sir John Moore Caldicott KBE CMG (12 February 1900 – 31 January 1986) was a Rhodesian government minister.

Sir John Moore Caldicott
Federal Minister of Finance
In office
3 September 1962 – 31 December 1963
Prime MinisterSir Roy Welensky
Preceded byDonald MacIntyre
Succeeded byFederation dissolved
Federal Minister of Defence
In office
12 June 1959 – 7 May 1962
Prime MinisterSir Roy Welensky
Preceded bySir Roy Welensky
Succeeded bySir Malcolm Barrow
Federal Minister of Agriculture
Minister of Health
In office
18 December 1953 – 11 December 1958
Prime MinisterSir Godfrey Huggins
Sir Roy Welensky
Succeeded byJohn Cranmer Graylin (Agriculture)
Benjamin Disraeli Goldberg (Health)
Minister of Agriculture and Lands
In office
8 March 1951 – 5 February 1954
Prime MinisterSir Godfrey Huggins
Garfield Todd
Preceded byPatrick Bissett Fletcher
Succeeded byPatrick Bissett Fletcher
Member of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly for Mazoe
In office
15 September 1948 – 27 January 1954
Preceded byEdward Noaks
Succeeded byHerbert Jack Quinton
Member of the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federal Assembly for Darwin
In office
15 December 1953 – 31 December 1963
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byFederation dissolved
Personal details
Born(1900-02-12)12 February 1900
Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, England
Died31 January 1986(1986-01-31) (aged 85)
Parirenyatwa Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe
Resting placeWarren Hills Cemetery
Political partyUnited Party
Other political
affiliations
Federal Party
SpouseEvelyn McArthur
RelationsJohn William Caldicott (grandfather)
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/serviceRoyal Air Force
Years of service1918–1919
RankSecond lieutenant

Early life

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John Moore Caldicott was born in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, on 12 February 1900 the son of solicitor John Croydon Moore Caldicott and Lilian Caldicott. His paternal grandfather was John William Caldicott, the Rector and Dean of Shipston-on-Stour and the headmaster of Bristol Grammar School.[1] Caldicott was education first at Malvern Preparatory School in Worcestershire and then at Shrewsbury School. After coming of age, Caldicott enlisted as a Private (Cadet) in the Royal Air Force on 22 April 1918 and undertook his training during the final months of the war, before being placed on the reserve on 11 March 1919. He was granted an honorary commission as a 2nd Lieutenant on 4 February 1919.[1]

Emigration to Africa

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Following the end of his war service, on 4 March 1921 Caldicott, at the age of 21, sailed from London aboard the British India steamship SS Nevasa for Mombasa, Kenya Colony. However, by 1925 he had returned to England, and on 2 October 1925 departed Southampton aboard the Union-Castle steamship RMS Briton for Cape Town, to settle as a tobacco farmer in the Umvukwes District of Southern Rhodesia.[1] In 1943–1945 Caldicott served as the President of the Rhodesia Tobacco Association. In 1945 he married Evelyn Macarthur, who had two existing children, and they had a son together, Michael John Caldicott. In 1946 he was elected President of the Rhodesian National Farmers' Union until 1948, which gave him a prominent platform for elected office.[1]

Southern Rhodesia Legislative Assembly

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Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly, 1948. Caldicott is second from the right, second row.

Caldicott stood as a candidate for Sir Godfrey Huggins' United Party at the general election of 1948 for the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia and was subsequently elected MP for Mazoe.[2]

Federation Assembly and minister

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In the first election of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Caldicott took 69% of the vote to win the seat of Darwin for the Federal Party.[3]

With the end of the Federation in 1963, Caldicott retired from politics and returned to farming until 1970 when he took up residence in the Salisbury suburb of Greendale. In 1980, upon independence he opted to remain in the country and took up Zimbabwean citizenship. On 31 January 1986 at the age of 86 he died at the Parirenyatwa Hospital and was buried at Warren Hills Cemetery.[1]

Honours

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Caldicott was made Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1955 Birthday Honours[4] and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1964 New Year Honours.[5] In 1953, as a member of parliament he received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. He was also granted retention of the title "The Honourable" on 31 December 1963, for having served for more than three years as a Minister of the Federal Government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Orders & Decorations of Sir John Moore Caldicott (auction)". bidorbuy.co.za. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  2. ^ F. M. G. Willson and G. C. Passmore. "Holders of Administrative and Ministerial Office 1894-1964" (PDF). University of Zimbabwe Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2020.
  3. ^ Guide to Government Ministers: The British Empire and Successor States 1900-1972
  4. ^ "No. 40497". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1955. p. 3260.
  5. ^ "No. 43207". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1963. p. 52.
  6. ^ "No. 43258". The London Gazette. 28 February 1964. p. 1856.
Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Mazoe
1948 – 1954
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Agriculture and Lands
1951 – 1954
Succeeded by
Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federal Assembly
New constituency Member of Federal Parliament for Darwin
1953 – 1963
Federation dissolved
Political offices
New title Minister of Agriculture
1953 – 1958
Succeeded by
New title Minister of Health
1953 – 1958
Succeeded by
New title Minister of Public Service
1956 – 1962
Succeeded by
New title Minister of Economic Affairs
1958 – 1962
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Defence
1959 – 1962
Preceded by Minister of Finance
1962 – 1963
Federation dissolved