Leila Ross-Shier

Leila Elberta Ross-Shier was a musician, educator and composer from the Cayman Islands. Ross-Shier wrote the national song of the Cayman Islands, "Beloved Isle Cayman".

Biography

Ross-Shier was born on November 16, 1886, in Grand Cayman. She worked as an educator, librarian and was an official Registrar of Births and Deaths. She encouraged all high school students to read, no matter the color of their skin, despite the norm of segregation at the time.
Ross-Shier wrote "Beloved Isle Cayman" in 1930. She also wrote hymns and ballads, organized concerts and was a church organist.
Ross-Shier was one of the signers of a petition that led to granting women's suffrage in the Cayman Islands in 1959.
Ross-Shier died on September 26, 1968, in Grand Cayman.