Solomon Hochoy

Sir Solomon Hochoy (born April 20, 1905 in Jamaica , † November 15, 1983 in Blanchisseuse ) was the last British governor of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's first governor-general after independence. He was the first non-white governor of a British crown colony .

Life

Hochoy's family comes from a Hakka background and migrated from Jamaica to Trinidad when he was two years old. He grew up in Blanchisseuse, a small, agricultural village at the time on the north coast. In 1935 he married Thelma Edna Huggins (born September 17, 1910 in Saint Madeleine near San Fernando ). After Trinidad gained independence, he assumed Trinidadian citizenship in October 1963. After his professional career, Hochoy spent his old age in Blanchisseuse. There he died in 1983 at the age of 78. He is buried in the Botanical Gardens of Port of Spain. His wife Thelma died in 2010 at the age of 99. Privately, Hochoy emerged as a sponsor of the British and Foreign Bible Society , the British Red Cross and the Trinidadian Boy Scouts.

Career

After Hochoy was able to attend Saint Mary's College in Port of Spain thanks to a scholarship, he began his professional career as an employee of a hardware trading company and a notary. In 1927 he entered the civil service as counting master for the port authority. He found his first job in the department that administered the coastal steamship line. In 1939 he moved to the business development department. From 1944 to 1949 he was labor officer and from 1949 to 1955 labor commissioner . In 1951, Hochoy represented the British West Indian colonies at the 34th Annual Conference of the International Labor Organization in Geneva . In 1956 he was first appointed deputy colonial minister and, as part of a constitutional reform, a little later became colonial minister, the second highest office within a colony after the post of governor. On November 20, 1959, Hochoy was knighted by Elizabeth II and on July 16, 1960 was appointed governor of Trinidad and Tobago, which at that time belonged to the short-lived West Indian Federation . With the independence of Trinidad on August 31, 1962, Hochoy automatically became governor-general of the newly founded country. The title of president was only introduced in Trinidad with the transition to the republic in 1976. In 1969 Hochoy was awarded the Trinity Cross , the highest award in the country at the time. In 1972 he retired from politics and was replaced by Ellis Clarke .

Awards

• 1952: Officer of the Order of the British Empire
• 1959: Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
• 1961: Knight of Justice of the Order of St. John
• 1962: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
• 1966: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
• 1969: Trinity Cross
• Gran Cordón of the Order del Libertador (Venezuela)
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies

Posthumous Effect and Evaluation

Hochoy was not born in Trinidad, but spent almost his entire life there and is therefore considered a local. As "Trini" in the function of the Colonial Minister, the second highest representative of the island, he encouraged the people's desire for independence and gave them self-confidence. Rumors that Hochoy was elected governor for political reasons to influence talks on the constitution of the West Indian Federation have been denied by the British government. Hochoy's exercise of office is rated as "calm and caring". The Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway is named after him. In 1972 the University of the West Indies presented a Sir Solomon Hochoy Award for the best university degree in mechanical engineering. With the Sir Solomon Hochoy Cup , a trophy of the T&T Rugby Football Union is named after Hochoy.

Web links

• Hochoy portrait on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UWI.tt: The Hochoys Sir Solomon and Lady Thelma Hochoy - An Online Exhibition. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 11, 2006 ; accessed on May 6, 2016 . 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.  
2. ↑ Trinidad Newsday of April 17, 2010: Lady Hochoy dies at 99. Retrieved April 30, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Caribbean History Archives: Independence of Trinidad and Tobago - The Big Moment. Retrieved May 15, 2016 . 
4. ↑ Michael Anthony: Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago . Scarecrow Press, London 1997, ISBN 0-8108-3173-2 , pp. 285 .
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Knights and Dames: HA-HOR at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
6. ↑ Michael Anthony: Builders of the Nation . Circle Press, Port of Spain 2012, ISBN 978-976-8068-07-1 , pp. 9 .
7. ↑ UWI.tt: telegram from the British Secretary of State to Edward Beetham. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 2, 2009 ; accessed on May 16, 2016 . 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.  
8. ↑ TnT50.gov.tt: National Icons of Trinidad and Tobago. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 12, 2016 ; accessed on May 15, 2016 . 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.  
9. ↑ Trinidad Guardian of December 20, 2007: Engineering professor to be made UWI principal. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 15, 2016 ; accessed on May 15, 2016 . 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.