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. In 1967 he retired from politics, having reduced his participation during the previous three years because of failing health. Word lid van Facebook om met Alexander Bustamante en anderen in contact te komen. 5 pages. The labour leader denounced Denham at a meeting of 7,000 at the Parade on May 4. He said that the JLP would not contest a by-election to the federal parliament. He died on August 6,1977, at the age of 93. Along with being head of the government, Bustamante served as mayor of Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation in 1947. 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. Coombs. In the 1955 Jamaican general election, the PNP won for the first time, securing 18 out of 32 seats. Bustamante was considered a "buster", "a champion of the common man and tough article. Hamilton, B. L. St. John, Bustamante: anthology of a hero, Kingston, Jamaica: Produced for B. St. J. Hamilton by Publication & Productions, 1978. Copyright © 2020 LoveToKnow. He agitated for Jamaica to become independent of Great Britain. The voter turnout was 65.2%. 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. Sir Alexander Bustamante was appointed “Order of National Hero.” Sir Alexander Bustamante and Mr. Norman Manley were the only two living people to receive this distinguish award. The internment made a political martyr of Bustamante and enhanced the position of his union among the masses. 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.. The only limits placed on their powers pertained to public security, public prosecutions and matters affecting members of the Civil Service, which still fell under the Colonial Secretary. The Jamaican Legislative Council became the upper house, or Senate, of the bicameral Parliament. This article has been rated as Start-Class . [23] In the same year, he was also awarded the Special Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Star by the Republic of China. 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. The PNP received more votes (203,048) than the JLP (199,538), but the JLP secured more seats; 17 to the PNP's 13. Bustamante is honoured in Jamaica with the title National Hero of Jamaica in recognition of his achievements. Alexander Bustamante has been listed as a level-5 vital article in People, Politicians. 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. [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]. 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. 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. After losing the referendum, Manley took Jamaica to the polls in April 1962, to secure a mandate for the island's independence. by Deborah A. Thomas, John L. Jackson Jr. 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. In May the federation was dissolved. Though initially a supporter of the Federation of the West Indies, during the 1950s, Bustamante gradually opposed the union. [8] In 1947 and 1948, he was elected as mayor of Kingston. African Studies Review, vol. Facebook geeft mensen de … She was a result of teenage pregnancy as both of her parents were teenagers when she was born. His was a prominent voice and effective presence in the political life of the country. William 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. The JLP ended up with 14 seats, and there were no independents. SIR ALEXANDER BUSTAMANTE 1884-1977 Alexander Bustamante was an aggressive, outspoken young man who understood the dynamics of labor relations. He had no children. For the first time, the Ministers could now exercise wide responsibility in the management of the internal affairs of the island. Bustamante was commended in 1955 for his public services in Jamaica. About Sir Alexander Bustamante. Coombs' JWU became the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) after the revolt, and Bustamante became known as "The Chief".[4]. He was restless, extremely extroverted and gregarious. He was named William Alexander Clarke, but later changed his name in 1944 to William Alexander Bustamante. Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante was a Jamaican politician and labour leader who in 1962 became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Within four years the union represented more than 80 percent of all organized workers in Jamaica, mainly among the rural agricultural workers. He served 4 years in office. 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. 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. 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 JLP was the overall winner of elections in April 1962, and Bustamante became premier. William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (Hanover, 24 de febrero de 1884-Kingston, 6 de agosto de 1977) fue un sindicalista y político jamaicano. Hippolyte, Erin. He/She was Communications Minister from 1943 to 1953 and Prime Minister of … Biografía 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. 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. William Alexander Bustamante, perhaps Jamaica's most flamboyant and charismatic politician, was born William Alexander Clarke on February 24, 1884. Bustamante is honoured in Jamaica with the title National Hero of … [17] In 1965, after suffering a stroke, he withdrew from active participation in public life. Frederic Gomes Cassidy, Robert Brock Le Page. His office was downstairs, and living quarters upstairs. In 1940, he was imprisoned on charges of subversive activities. The voter turnout with 65.1%. Alexander Bustamante And Modern Jamaica book. Unflattering synoptic portraits can be found in Paul Blanshard, Democracy and Empire in the Caribbean (1977) and Personal and Controversial: An Autobiography (1973). 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. 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. In 1969, Bustamante became a Member of the Order of National Hero (ONH) in recognition of his achievements,[24] this along with Norman Manley, the black liberationist Marcus Garvey, and two leaders of the 1865 Morant Bay rebellion, Paul Bogle and George William Gordon. During the 1938 labour rebellion, he quickly became identified as the spokesman for striking workers, who were mostly of African and mixed-race descent. [12], Bustamante held this position until the JLP was defeated in 1955. He attended elementary school in rural Hanover, once even in his mother's native village of Dalmally. [22] In 1966, an honorary LLD degree was conferred on him by the University of the West Indies. As a result, Norman Manley became the new chief minister.[13]. If you can improve it, please do . 63, Iss. The first general election under Universal Adult Suffrage came in 1944 and the JLP won 22 of the 32 seats. His fourth wife was Gladys Longbridge, who he married on 7 September 1962, at the age of 78. Despite these changes, ultimate power remained concentrated in the hands of the governor and other high officials. Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante, Jamaica's first Prime Minister after the country gained independence in 1962, was born on February 24, 1884. 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. The constitution of the union made Bustamante president for life, with unrestricted control of its finances. In the 1961 Federation membership referendum Jamaica voted 54% to leave the West Indies Federation. 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. [20] He was awarded an honorary LLD degree from the Fairfield University in 1963. A Jamaican candy, the Bustamante backbone, is named after him. Between 1905 and 1934 Bustamante lived outside of Jamaica, returning to his homeland for only brief visits. 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. Along with being head of the government, Bustamante served as mayor o… He was defended by N.W. His mother, Mary Wilson, descended from the sturdy, independent Black peasantry of rural Hanover. Page Views (PV) 53.88. In the same year he acted as a mediator in a strike at the Serge Island Estate in St. Thomas. FIRST PRIME MINISTER Aug. 6, 1962 – Feb. 27, 1967. Michael Burke, "Norman Manley as premier". He became a leader in activism against colonial rule. Bustamante died in 1977 at the Irish Town Hospital and was buried in the National Heroes Park in Kingston.[28][29]. 1 Biography; Study Pack. In 1953, Bustamante became Jamaica's first chief minister (the pre-independence title for head of government). He gained recognition by writing frequent letters on the issues to the Daily Gleaner newspaper. Excellent Sir William Alexander Bustamante and the Rt. 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. Historical Popularity Index (HPI) 18. Hon. [24] On 9 June 1967, Bustamante was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE).[25]. William Alexander Bustamante, perhaps Jamaica's most flamboyant and charismatic politician, was born William Alexander Clarke on February 24, 1884. Alexander Bustamante was born in the rural village of Blenheim, Hanover Parish on 24th February 1884. Sir Alexander Bustamante addressed a huge meeting at the corner of Duke and Harbour Streets. 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.