Grantley Herbert Adams

Sir Grantley Adams on the Barbados 100 dollar bill

Sir Grantley Herbert Adams (born April 28, 1898 in Saint Michael , † November 28, 1971 ) was a Barbadian politician .

Life

Adams grew up as the third of seven children in Barbados, then a British colony. In 1918 he received a scholarship that allowed him to study law at Oxford . In 1925 he returned to Barbados to work as a lawyer. In 1929 he married Grace Thorne, his son Tom Adams , their only child, was born in 1931.

Adams stood up for the rights of the common people who, in his opinion, were exploited by the white planter aristocracy. In 1934 he was elected to the lower house of the colonial parliament for the first time and was re-elected in 1935 and 1936. Riots broke out in 1937 after the black unionist Clement Payne was deported to Trinidad. Adams defended Payne in court and was later called to the UK to report to the Colonial Secretary. The political unrest led to the establishment of the Barbados Progressive League in 1938 . Adams, who was away from the island on business at the time of formation, initially became the party's vice president. After this had been reorganized in 1941 by Hugh Worrell Springer , he took over the leadership of the party, which was renamed the Barbados Labor Party . In addition, he became chairman of the Barbados Workers' Union , which was also formed from the Progressive League and was the island's first union , which he remained until 1954.

After various reforms and expansions of the right to vote, including full and equal suffrage for all adults in 1951, the British colonial government granted internal self-government in 1954. Adams became the country's first prime minister in 1954, which he remained until 1958. When Barbados became one of the provinces of the British-independent West Indian Federation in 1958 , Adams became its first and only Prime Minister. After the federation broke up in 1962, Adams returned to the now independent Barbados.

Adams was knighted as a Knight Bachelor in 1957 by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to Barbados and the Caribbean . In memory of Adam's work, the airport in Christ Church was renamed Sir Grantley Adams International Airport in 1976 . In April 1998, Parliament passed an Order of National Heroes bill declaring 10 historical figures, including Adams and Springer, national heroes. Adam's 100th birthday was celebrated as a memorial day.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Curriculum Vitae ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at CARICOM , accessed May 27, 2012  
2. ↑ Curriculum Vitae at OAS , accessed May 27, 2012
3. ↑ CV  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Hugh Worrell Springer , accessed May 27, 2012  
4. ↑ Barbadian Parliamentary History ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 27, 2012