Grantley Herbert Adams
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Premier of Barbados | |
---|---|
In office 18 February 1953 – 17 April 1958 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Governor | Sir Alfred Savage Sir Robert Arundell |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Hugh Cummins |
Personal details | |
Born | 28 April 1898 |
Died | 28 November 1971 Saint Michael, Barbados | (aged 73)
Political party | Barbados Labour |
Other political affiliations | West Indies Federal Labour |
Spouse | Grace Thorne |
Sir Grantley Herbert Adams,
Early life
Adams was born at Colliston, Government Hill,
Political career
Adams' political interest began when he was still a law student in England. He became a member of the Liberal Party at Oxford, finding his views aligned best with those of the Asquithian liberals, in support of private enterprise and trade. Under the Liberal ideals of the era, support of trade union action, representational government and reform of the land ownership and taxation system were towards the overall goal of fostering free trade.[4]
As the British liberals that shaped him rejected the socialism of the British Labour Party, so too did Adams oppose the labour-focused efforts of the Democratic League of Charles Duncan O'Neal and Clennell Wickham on his return to Barbados in 1925. He attacked their strike efforts as editor of the Agricultural Reporter, a planter paper that had opposed workers' rights since its nineteenth century inception. With a growing reputation and popularity among the conservative establishment, Adams' entry into the House of Assembly in 1934 was assured by his role in the deconstruction of the socialist League, including bankrupting one of the key journalistic voices in support of workers' rights.[5]
Nevertheless, Adams' fundamental belief in liberal policies meant that he tended to support pro-working class efforts once he was installed in the House, and continued to espouse many of O’Neale's causes after the man's passing in 1936. Adams therefore consolidated his position by subsuming the fragmented Labour movement he had shattered, and marrying them to his own liberal ideals. It is this face that embraced the workers' rebellions of 1937 and lead to the establishment of the Barbados Labour Party in 1938.[4] Adams was president of the Barbados Workers' Union (BWU) from 1941 to 1954, and was involved in the lowering of the exclusive income qualification in 1942. By 1949, governmental control was wrested from the planters.
In 1952, Adams became a political enemy of Billy Strachan, a Jamaican communist and former Royal Air Force pilot who went onto become a pioneer of Black civil rights in Britain. Adams ordered Strachan to disband the London branch of the Caribbean Labour Congress to disband, an organisation which Strachan was then the leader of. However, the branch voted overwhelmingly in favour of continuing their activities and ignored Adams' demand to disband demand.[6] In further defiance of Adams, Strachan and fellow communist activist Ferdinand Smith conducted a speaking tour of the Caribbean.[6]
Adams became the first Premier of Barbados in 1953 and additionally
Yet he retained his reputation for conservatism through his support of the
Personal life
Adams was married to Grace Thorne (1904-1990) in 1929 at St. John's Church. Their only child, Tom, himself won the Barbados Scholarship and attended Oxford to become a lawyer. Tom Adams was elected as Barbados' second Prime Minister in 1976.
Legacy
Grantley Adams International Airport, formerly Seawell Airport, located in Christ Church, Barbados, was named after the former Premier in 1976. A statue in honour of Adams is located in front of Government Headquarters at Bay Street, St. Michael.
Adams is one of Barbados'
Adams was buried in Bridgetown, Barbados, at the churchyard of the
on Saint Michael's Row.The former home of Adams, located on Roebuck Street, Bridgetown, functions as the headquarters of the Barbados Labour Party political group.[citation needed] Adams is featured on the front of the Barbados $100 bill,[2] popularly referred to as a "Grantley".
See also
- Politics of Barbados
- List of Premiers/Prime Ministers of Barbados
Further reading
- F. A. Hoyos: The Rise of West Indian Democracy: The Life and Times of Sir Grantley Adams, Advocate Press (1963)
References
- ^ Price, Sanka (10 March 2014). "'Political giant' passes away". Daily Nation. Nation Publishing. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ a b c "Sir Grantley Adams (1898 – 1971)". Barbados Pocket Guide. Sun Group. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ Grantley Adams playing statisticers CricketArchive; Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ a b Hoyos, F. A., Grantley Adams and the Social Revolution, Macmillan (1974).
- ^ Lewis, Gordon, The Growth of the Modern West Indies, New York, 1972.
- ^ ISSN 2055-7035. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
External links
- Sir Grantley Herbert Adams biography The Caribbean Community secretariat