Norman Manley

The Right Excellent Norman Washington Manley
2nd Chief Minister of Jamaica
In office 1955–1962
Preceded by	Alexander Bustamante
Succeeded by	Alexander Bustamante
Personal details
Born	July 4, 1893(1893-07-04) Roxborough, Manchester, Jamaica
Died	September 2, 1969(1969-09-02) (aged 76) Kingston, Jamaica
Nationality	Jamaica
Political party	People's National Party
Spouse(s)	Edna Manley
Profession	Lawyer

Norman Washington Manley MM QC National Hero of Jamaica (July 4, 1893 – September 2, 1969), was a Jamaican statesman. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. With his cousin, Alexander Bustamante, Manley was an advocate of the universal suffrage that was granted the colony in 1944.

He founded the left-wing People's National Party^{[citation needed]} which later was tied to the Trade Union Congress and the National Workers Union, together with Bustamante, in 1938, and led it in every election from 1944 to 1967.^{[citation needed]} Their efforts resulted in the New Constitution of 1944, granting full adult suffrage. He served as the colony's Chief Minister from 1955 to 1959, and as Premier from 1959 to 1962. He was a proponent of the island's participation in the Federation of the West Indies but bowed to pressure to hold a referendum in 1961 which resulted in Jamaica withdrawing from the union.

Biography

Norman Washington Manley was born in Roxborough in Jamaica's Manchester parish, on July 4, 1893. His father, Thomas Albert Samuel Manley, who was the illegitimate son of an English trader from Yorkshire and a former slave, worked as an agricultural businessman and sold Jamaican spices and fruits to the United States.^[1] Norman Manley's mother, Margaret Shearer, was the daughter of a pen-keeper of Irish descent and his Mulatto wife.^[2]

As a young man, Manley was a brilliant scholar, soldier and athlete, studying law at Jesus College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He enlisted and fought in the First World War in the Royal Field Artillery, and later returned to Jamaica to serve as a barrister. He identified himself with the cause of the workers at the time of the labour troubles of 1938 and donated time and advocacy to the cause.

Manley and the PNP supported the trade union movement, then led by Alexander Bustamante, while leading the demand for universal adult suffrage. When Suffrage came, Manley had to wait ten years and two terms before his party was elected to office. He was a strong advocate of the Federation of the West Indies, established in 1958, but when Sir Alexander Bustamante declared that opposition Jamaica Labour Party would take Jamaica out of the Federation, Norman Manley, already renowned for his integrity and commitment to democracy, called a referendum, unprecedented in Jamaica, to let the people decide.

The vote was decidedly against Jamaica’s continued membership of the Federation. Norman Manley, after arranging Jamaica’s orderly withdrawal from the union, set up a joint committee to decide on a constitution for separate independence for Jamaica. He himself chaired the committee with great distinction and then led the team that negotiated Jamaica's independence from Britain.

The issue settled, Manley again went to the people. He lost the ensuing election to the JLP and gave his last years of service as Leader of the Opposition, establishing definitively the role of the parliamentary opposition in a developing nation. In his last public address to an annual conference of the PNP, he said: "I say that the mission of my generation was to win self-government for Jamaica. To win political power which is the final power for the black masses of my country from which I spring. I am proud to stand here today and say to you who fought that fight with me, say it with gladness and pride: Mission accomplished for my generation".

"And what is the mission of this generation?… It is…reconstructing the social and economic society and life of Jamaica".

As premier, Manley renegotiated a government contract with bauxite companies, leading to a six fold increase in revenue. His government also set the dominant economic agenda for the future in Jamaica by establishing numerous statutory boards, government bodies, and quasi-government authorities to regulate and play an active role in industry.^[3]

Shortly before his death he was proclaimed a National Hero of Jamaica, along with Bustamante, to join the black nationalist Marcus Garvey, nineteenth century rebel Paul Bogle, and nineteenth century politician George William Gordon. Due to respiratory illness, Manley retired from politics on his birthday in 1969, and he died later that year, on September 2, 1969. His tomb was decorated by critically acclaimed Jamaican sculptor, Christopher Gonzalez.^[4]

Manley was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Manley's speech entitled, To Unite in a Common Battle was delivered in 1945 at the fraternty's Thirty-first General Convention in Chicago, Illinois. [1]

His second son, Michael Manley, went on to become the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica. He married his cousin Edna Manley (March 1, 1900 – February 2, 1987) in 1921.

Notes

1. ^ Ranston (1999), p. 15
2. ^ Ranston (1999), p. 14
3. ^ Jamaica’s Michael Manley: The Great Transformation (1972-92) by David Panton
4. ^ "Jamaican artist Christopher Gonzalez dies". Associated Press (Boston Globe). 2008-08-04. http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/08/04/jamaican_artist_christopher_gonzalez_dies/. Retrieved 2008-08-09. ^{[dead link]}

Bibliography

• Ranston, Jackie, Lawyer Manley: Vol. 1 First Time Up, University of the West Indies Press, 1999, ISBN 9766400822

Preceded by Sir Alexander Bustamante

Chief Minister of Jamaica 1955-1962

Succeeded by Sir Alexander Bustamante (Position renamed to Prime Minister of Jamaica)

Persondata
Name	Manley, Norman Washington
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 4, 1893
Place of birth	Roxborough, Manchester, Jamaica
Date of death	September 2, 1969
Place of death	Kingston, Jamaica