[21] In 1964, he was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom (PC). Coombs. Between 1905 and 1934 Bustamante lived outside of Jamaica, returning to his homeland for only brief visits. Most of this time was spent in Cuba, where he eventually gained employment in the security police of Presidents Alfredo Zayas and Gerardo Machado in the 1920s. The Jamaica to which Bustamante returned in 1934 was a cauldron of social and economic discontent. He established the vital link between the trade union base and the political party and made this combination the most effective instrument of political operation in Jamaica. by Deborah A. Thomas, John L. Jackson Jr. 390k. The eventual release of Bustamante from prison derived from the unceasing efforts of Manley, who had earlier founded the People's National Party as the political instrument for forging a new nationalism in Jamaica. House members were elected by adult suffrage from single-member electoral districts called constituencies. He/She was Communications Minister from 1943 to 1953 and Prime Minister of … At the age of 48, he returned to Jamaica in 1932, where he opened offices at 1a Duke Street, as a money lender and a dairy products man. (review)." On October 18, 1969 as per Government Notice 706 Jamaica Gazette, Bustamante was conferred with the Order of National Hero along with his cousin Norman Washington Manley. He supported a notorious strike in Frome, Westmoreland, in 1937 where six people were killed and 89 were arrested. Hippolyte, Erin. Sir Alexander Bustamante . The internment made a political martyr of Bustamante and enhanced the position of his union among the masses. He was interned briefly for this activity. His father, Robert Constantine Clarke, a member of the declining white plantocracy, was the overseer of a small, mixed-crop plantation called Blenheim, in the parish of Hanover on the then-isolated northwestern coast of the island. The Jamaica Labor Party won 23 of the 32 seats in the House of Representatives, with 41 percent of the votes, and Bustamante became Jamaica's first chief minister. SIR ALEXANDER BUSTAMANTE 1884-1977 Alexander Bustamante was an aggressive, outspoken young man who understood the dynamics of labor relations. In 1943 he founded the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), with himself as head. This article has been rated as Start-Class . To this situation Bustamante brought great charisma, an attractive, empathetic eloquence spiced with rapier-like humor, carnival-like flair, boundless enthusiasm, energy, and an unflagging support for the working classes and the underprivileged. Page Views (PV) 53.88. 1 Biography; Study Pack. [24] On 9 June 1967, Bustamante was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE).[25]. Other articles where Sir Alexander Bustamante is discussed: Jamaica: Self-government: …Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) under Sir Alexander Bustamante pressed for secession from the federation. His fourth wife was Gladys Longbridge, who he married on 7 September 1962, at the age of 78. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p. 430. He combined the oratory of Marcus Garvey with the modified messianic spirit of the former millenialists Alexander Bedward and Solomon Hewitt, but he made the new movement his own instrument. [12], Bustamante held this position until the JLP was defeated in 1955. He retired from active politics in 1967. The Right Excellent Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante GBE (24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader who became the first prime minister of Jamaica. [30] It is a grated coconut and dark brown sugar confection flavored with fresh grated ginger, cooked to a hard consistency, "which is said to represent his firmness of character." In the 1944 Jamaican general election, Bustamante's party won 22 of 32 seats in the first House of Representatives elected by universal suffrage. Michael Burke, "Norman Manley as premier". The voter turnout was 72.9%.[15]. On 21 February, in the 1967 Jamaican general election, the JLP were victorious again, winning 33 out of 53 seats, with the PNP taking 20 seats. [20] He was awarded an honorary LLD degree from the Fairfield University in 1963. Historical Popularity Index (HPI) 18. [23] In the same year, he was also awarded the Special Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Star by the Republic of China. Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante was one of Jamaica's national heroes and the first prime minister of independent Jamaica. Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante GBE PC (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. He died on August 6, 1977, at the age of 93 and was buried in the shrine for prime ministers of Jamaica in the national park in Kingston. Bustamante served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 2002 to 2011, where he was the recipient of various local, state and national awards for excellence, including the United States Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Department of Justice's highest award. She was a result of teenage pregnancy as both of her parents were teenagers when she was born. On January 23, 1939, he registered the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union over the opposition of the governor and others who declared that a union should not possess the name of an individual. The true power was held by his deputy, Donald Sangster.[18]. During Bustamante's internment Norman Manley and his followers rebuilt and expanded the organization of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union. 5 pages. Sir Alexander Bustamante was born William Alexander Clarke on February 24, 1884 in Blenheim, Hanover. Alyssa Bustamante was born on January 28, 1994 in Cole, Missouri to drug-addict parents. 58 no. After his return to Jamaica, Bustamante established himself as a money-lender in modest offices on Duke Street, then the desired cachet for all business addresses in Kingston. Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante was a Jamaican politician and labour leader who in 1962 became the first prime minister of Jamaica. [8] In 1947 and 1948, he was elected as mayor of Kingston. He was born as William Alexander Clarke to Mary Clarke (née Wilson), a woman of mixed race, and her second husband, Robert Constantine Clarke, the son of Robert Clarke, an Irish Catholic planter, in Blenheim, Hanover. Alexander Bustamante has been listed as a level-5 vital article in People, Politicians. "Bad Friday: Rastafari After Coral Gardens dir. He was defended by N.W. Despite these changes, ultimate power remained concentrated in the hands of the governor and other high officials. In 1940, he was imprisoned on charges of subversive activities. Born William Alexander Clarke, in the parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica 1884, the son of an Irish planter Robert Constantine Clarke and a Jamaican mother, Mary Clarke, although he is to have stated that his mother was actually Taino. The Jamaica Labor Party won 23 of the 32 seats in the House of Representatives, with 41 percent of the votes, and Bustamante became Jamaica's first chief minister. Manley was appointed Jamaica's first premier on 14 August 1959. The JLP was the overall winner of elections in April 1962, and Bustamante became premier. Coombs' JWU became the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) after the revolt, and Bustamante became known as "The Chief".[4]. [19] Two days later, Bustamante retired, and Sangster became Jamaica's second prime minister. [14] He had no children. Between September 8, 1939, and February 8, 1942, Bustamante was imprisoned by the governor of Jamaica, Sir Arthur Richards, under wartime emergency powers for incitement to riot for addressing a group of longshoremen on the Kingston waterfront. William Alexander BustamanteWilliam Alexander Bustamante (1884-1977) was a Jamaican labor leader who became Jamaica's first chief minister under limited self-government and the first prime minister after independence in 1962. Bustamante virtually single-handedly destroyed the West Indian Federation, established in 1958 to unify and order the political evolution of the English West Indian territories. Biografía Bustamante died in 1977 at the Irish Town Hospital and was buried in the National Heroes Park in Kingston.[28][29]. [17] In 1965, after suffering a stroke, he withdrew from active participation in public life. In 1967 he retired from politics, having reduced his participation during the previous three years because of failing health. The Right Excellent Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader who became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Alexander Bustamante : biography. If you can improve it, please do . While taking on the role of head of the BITU, he was also leader of government business. [5] Under the new charter, the British governor, assisted by the six-member Privy Council and ten-member Executive Council, remained responsible solely to the Crown. More significantly, the party gained less popular votes than the opposition People's National Party. [26][27] His portrait graces the Jamaican one dollar coin. Alexander Bustamante is known for his work on The Leap to Happiness (2009), Worms (2013) and Pintando América (2016). His was a prominent voice and effective presence in the political life of the country. Bustamante was commended in 1955 for his public services in Jamaica. Norman Manley's portrait is more insightful in The New Jamaica: Selected Speeches and Writings, 1938-1968, edited with notes and introduction by Rex Nettleford (1971). The 1949 Jamaican general election was much closer. Sir Alexander Bustamante was born on February 24, 1884 , the son of Robert Constantine Clarke, an Irish planter and Mary Clarke (nee Wilson) a Jamaican of mixed blood. Along with his famous half-cousin Norman Washington Manley he became the dominant political figure in Jamaica until his retirement in the late 1960s. [2], William said that he took the surname Bustamante to honour a Spanish sea captain who he claims adopted him in his early years and took him to Spain where he was sent to school and later returned to Jamaica.[3]. Ranston, Jackie, From we were boys: the story of the magnificent cousins, the Rt. Gradually he became involved in the protest marches and other demonstrations of the urban masses. The Alexander Bustamante Study Pack contains: Biographies (1) William Alexander Bustamante 1,357 words, approx. "[31] The candy is also nicknamed Busta. Bustamante became involved in many strikes in Jamaica during the 1930s. His father was a white Irish planter named Robert Constantine Clarke and his mother a black Jamaican worker named Mary Clarke (Nee Wilson). His occupations included working as a policeman in Cuba, as a tramcar conductor in Panama, and as a dietician in a New York City hospital. After Jamaica was granted independence in 1962, Bustamante served as the first Prime Minister until 1967.In April of 1963 he ordered the police and army to "Bring in all Rastas, dead or alive" [16] and over 150 Rastas were detained and a unknown number killed. He began his political involvement by writing long, almost daily letters to the press, especially the venerable Daily Gleaner, the island's leading newspaper—then more than a century in continuous publication—and its smaller rival, The Jamaica Standard. Bustamante had replaced Manley as premier between April and August, and on independence, he became Jamaica's first prime minister. The Right Excellent Sir William Alexander Bustamante, G.B.E., LL.D (Hon.) Sir Alexander Bustamante (1884–1977), "Jamaica's National Heroes: Their Legacy 50 Years Later", "Sir Alexander Bustamante, 94, Jamaican Leader, Dies", "Sweet & dandy - The history of Jamaican sweets". Although intelligent, he had little formal education beyond the elementary level in Jamaica and resisted the apprenticeship which would [22] In 1966, an honorary LLD degree was conferred on him by the University of the West Indies. The constitution of the union made Bustamante president for life, with unrestricted control of its finances. As a result, Norman Manley became the new chief minister.[13]. The PNP secured a wider margin of victory, taking 29 seats to the JLP's 16. About Sir Alexander Bustamante. The Jamaican Legislative Council became the upper house, or Senate, of the bicameral Parliament. All Rights Reserved. William Alexander Bustamante (24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was Chief Minister of Jamaica from 3 May 1953 to 2 February 1955, preceding Norman Manley, and Prime Minister from 29 April 1962 to 23 February 1967, preceding Donald Sangster.He was the founder of the conservative Jamaica Labor Party and the father of Jamaica's independence.. In 1937 he was elected as treasurer of the Jamaica Workers' Union (JWU), which had been founded by labour activist Allan G.S. Along with being head of the government, Bustamante served as mayor o… Biography of sir Alexander Bustamante (1884-1977) Politician and Jamaican industrial, in 1938 he/she founded the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, and in 1943 the Jamaica labour party. On this day in Jamaican history, the Right Honorable Sir Alexander Bustamante, the first Prime Minister of Jamaica, was born. A referendum in 1961 supported their views. William Alexander Bustamante, perhaps Jamaica's most flamboyant and charismatic politician, was born William Alexander Clarke on February 24, 1884. Ejerció como primer ministro de Jamaica desde 1962 hasta 1967, siendo el primero de un estado jamaicano independiente. Hamilton, B. L. St. John, Bustamante: anthology of a hero, Kingston, Jamaica: Produced for B. St. J. Hamilton by Publication & Productions, 1978. FIRST PRIME MINISTER Aug. 6, 1962 – Feb. 27, 1967. He gained recognition by writing frequent letters on the issues to the Daily Gleaner newspaper. [10] In 1952 he was arrested by the American authorities while he was on official business in Puerto Rico.[11]. Bustamante is honoured in Jamaica with the title National Hero of … Previously he had belonged to the People's National Party (founded in 1938 by his first cousin Norman Manley). Alexander Bustamante is lid van Facebook. His birth name was William Alexander Clarke. In 1943, Bustamante founded the Jamaica Labour Party(JLP), and was also its first leader. Bustamante travelled the world and worked in many different places. Project MUSE, Special Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Star, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, https://www.geni.com/people/Margaret-Manley/6000000024119130886, "History this week:Constitutional Developments in British Guiana and Jamaica between 1890 and 1945 (Part 3)", https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/14/edward-seaga-and-the-institutionalization-of-thuggery-violence-and-dehumanization-in-jamaica/#post-112453-endnote-1, "Reports of the arrest, trial and subsequent acquittal of Mr Alexander Bustamante and Mr...", http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Norman-Manley-as-premier_17349996, The Rt. In 1953, Bustamante became Jamaica's first chief minister (the pre-independence title for head of government). He served 4 years in office. Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante GBE PC (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. There he met Mildred Edith Blanck, the widow of an English consulting engineer, whom he married in the Kingston Parish Church on December 12, 1910, while on one of his short visits to the island. African Studies Review, vol. Unflattering synoptic portraits can be found in Paul Blanshard, Democracy and Empire in the Caribbean (1977) and Personal and Controversial: An Autobiography (1973). Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. In May the federation was dissolved. If the measure of a person is his/her legacy in words - both what they have actually said and what has been spoken about what they purportedly said - then former Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante stands especially tall in Jamaican history. Two seats were won by independents. 63, Iss. Alexander Bustamante And Modern Jamaica book. Bustamante described himself as a dietician and businessman with North American experience, but while he might have returned with some wealth to the island, his formal training and experience were mostly his own fantastic fabrication. The 1959 Jamaican general election was held on 28 July 1959, and the number of seats was increased to 45. His office was downstairs, and living quarters upstairs. He left Jamaica once again in 1905 at the age of 21. Facebook geeft mensen de … The first general election under Universal Adult Suffrage came in 1944 and the JLP won 22 of the 32 seats. He wrote on many subjects, but most had to do with the conditions of the lower orders of the working classes and the political ineptness of the local administrators. The first general election under Universal Adult Suffrage came in 1944 and the JLP won 22 of the 32 seats. Excellent Norman Washington Manley, Kingston, Jamaica: Bustamante Institute of Public & International Affairs, 1989. Sir Alexander Bustamante addressed a huge meeting at the corner of Duke and Harbour Streets. The JLP ended up with 14 seats, and there were no independents. Of Bustamante's early life little is known. He was the second of five children of the Clarke family. William Alexander Clarke, who later adopted the surname of Bustamante in honor of a Spanish captain who befriended him, was born on … The widespread labor disturbances of the years 1937 and 1938 provided the opportunity to establish himself as the foremost labor leader in the island. Frederic Gomes Cassidy, Robert Brock Le Page. have led him to succeed his father as an overseer of the Jamaican landed interests. Workers were being organized and militantly politicized not only by the race and color conscious supporters of Marcus Garvey but also by the articulate socialist-oriented committees of Norman Manley, Frank Hill, Ken Hill, Arthur Henry, Richard Hart, Allan Coombs, Wills O. Isaacs, and Noel Nethersole. Personality Bustamante's own apochryphal explanation of the name is that it derives from the Spanish mariner who adopted him at the age of five, taking him to Spain where he was sent to school and where he saw active military service. In 1947 he was arrested with Frank Pixley and put on trial for manslaughter at the courthouse in Port Maria. His mother, Mary Wilson, descended from the sturdy, independent Black peasantry of rural Hanover. Bustamante is honoured in Jamaica with the title National Hero of Jamaica in recognition of his achievements. Bustamante claimed that Britain, "the mother country", was not aware of the state of affairs in Jamaica, because she was badly informed or misinformed by Governor Denham. They now had a majority over the official and nominated members. He became the unofficial government leader, representing his party as Minister for Communications. The labour leader denounced Denham at a meeting of 7,000 at the Parade on May 4. A charismatic and impressive speaker, he used the media to criticize the prevailing political system and its attendant social problems. He said that the JLP would not contest a by-election to the federal parliament. The parties lobbied the colonial government for a further increase in constitutional powers for the elected government, and in June 1953 a new constitution provided for the appointment of a chief minister and seven other Ministers from the elected House of Representatives. Immediately after his release Bustamante broke with Manley, reorganized the union, and formally launched the Jamaica Labor Party on July 1943 to rival the People's National Party and the Jamaica Democratic Party in the first general elections held in December 1944. On 10 April 1962, of the 45 seats up for contention in the 1962 Jamaican general election, the JLP won 26 seats and the PNP 19. By virtue of the second marriage of Elsie Hunter, his paternal grandmother, to Alexander Shearer, he became distantly related to both Norman Washington Manley and Michael Manley, as well as to Hugh Shearer— all of whom were to be chief ministers or prime ministers of Jamaica. Memorability Metrics. Sir Alexander Bustamante, circa 1960. Bustamante is the surname which he formally adopted in September 1944, although he had been using that name regularly since the 1920s. Manley and released from prison in 1943, Bustamante founded the Jamaica Labour Party the same year. Wages and working conditions had declined steadily, and the government had consistently refused to provide relief. For the first time, the Ministers could now exercise wide responsibility in the management of the internal affairs of the island. Alexander Bustamante is the 14,167th most popular politician (down from 12,831st in 2019), the 53rd most popular biography from Jamaica (down from 44th in 2019) and the 6th most popular Jamaican Politician. Bustamante travelled… Though initially a supporter of the Federation of the West Indies, during the 1950s, Bustamante gradually opposed the union. In the 1961 Federation membership referendum Jamaica voted 54% to leave the West Indies Federation. Copyright © 2020 LoveToKnow. [6][7], Bustamante's first term as unofficial leader of the government was dogged by controversy. In the 1955 Jamaican general election, the PNP won for the first time, securing 18 out of 32 seats. The decline of the old colonial system, hastened by the enormous difficulties which Great Britain had encountered during World War I and during the Great Depression, had saddled Jamaica with a type of politics and a bureaucracy which could not respond to the many problems which the island encountered. He was restless, extremely extroverted and gregarious. He died on August 6,1977, at the age of 93. 1, 2015, pp. His Jamaica Labor Party won re-election in the national elections of 1949 with a reduced parliamentary representation. Word lid van Facebook om met Alexander Bustamante en anderen in contact te komen. The Right Excellent Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante GBE (24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader. Excellent Sir William Alexander Bustamante and the Rt. Immediately after his release Bustamante broke with Manley, reorganized the union, and formally launched the Jamaica Labor Party on July 1943 to rival the People's National Party and the Jamaica Democratic Party in the first general elections held in December 1944. 1, (2014): 197-214,234. 279-281. Earlier he had spent nearly ten years in Panama (probably between 1908 and 1919) working as a traffic inspector. Alexander Bustamante and Modern Jamaica Paperback – Illustrated, December 1, 1995 by George E. Eaton (Author) 4.5 out of 5 ... Out of the vision of HANDS came the idea to write this biography so that Jamaicans would know the origin and purpose of the National Anthem as presented through the life and work of Father Sherlock. Alexander Bustamante was born in the rural village of Blenheim, Hanover Parish on 24th February 1884. [1] Robert Constantine Clarke, was the half-brother of Margaret Ann Manley, nee Shearer, who was the mother of Norman Washington Manley. His father, Robert Constantine Clarke, a member of the declining white plantocracy, was the overseer of a small, mixed-crop plantation called Blenheim, in the parish of Hanover on the then-isolated northwestern coast of the island. Campbell, Horace G. Coral Gardens 1963: The Rastafari and Jamaican Independence,Social and Economic Studies; Mona Vol. His parents were Robert Constantine Clarke, and wife Mary nee Wilson. He installed Gladys Longbridge as his private secretary, and she was to accompany him for the rest of his life as confidante, assistant, companion, and, finally, after September 6, 1962, his second wife. NATIONAL HERO (1969) Legacy Shares with cousin Norman Washington Manley, the honour of being one of the two ‘Founding Fathers’ of Jamaica’s Independence, attained peacefully, August 6, 1962. Along with being head of the government, Bustamante served as mayor of Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation in 1947. The following year the Jamaican Parliament honored him by declaring him a national hero. During the 1938 labour rebellion, he quickly became identified as the spokesman for striking workers, who were mostly of African and mixed-race descent. Along with his cousin, Norman Washington Manley, he is considered one of the founding fathers of modern Jamaica. This resulted in the independence of Jamaica on 6 August 1962, and several other British colonies in the West Indies followed suit in the next decade.