PM Profiles

FIRST PRIME MINISTER
August 6, 1962 – February 27, 1967

NATIONAL HERO (1969)

LEGACY:
Shares with cousin Norman Washington Manley, the honour of being one of the two ‘Founding Fathers’ of Jamaica’s Independence, attained peacefully, August 6, 1962

PERSONALITY:
Physically impressive, standing approximately 6’5’ with gangling gait. A strong, wiry body and shock of grey hair made him a sort of living legend to the masses whose cause he championed against the colonial powers.
Known for his terse and telling phrases that cut to the quick of things, and for remarkable stamina that made him work tirelessly all over the island, particularly at the waterfront and at the sugar estates, where there were great concentrations of people. He tended to have a dictatorial style, marked nevertheless with sparkling magnanimity.

EDUCATION:
Elementary schools, and by Private Tuition

FOUNDER:
The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (1938) and the Jamaica Labour Party (1943).

WORK EXPERIENCE:
Store Clerk, Bee Keeper, Dairy Farmer, Junior Estate Overseer, Tramcar Inspector, Wall Street Speculator, Money Lender, Trade Unionist.

BORN:
February 24,1884, Blenheim, Hanover, Jamaica

PARENTS:
Robert Constantine Clarke, and wife Mary nee Wilson

MARRIED:
Gladys Longbridge, September 7,1962

CHILDREN:
None

DIED:
August 6, 1977

AGE AT DEATH:
93-years old