(this article, which also appears elsewhere on the site, contains most of what I know about Hector Joseph[s], who was apparently the first Black barrister in Jamaica)
'All but unique' - a Black Jamaican lawyer in the British Colonial Service:
Hector A. Joseph, K. C., Attorney General of British Guiana, 1925 - 1936.
by
Joy Lumsden
Department of History
University of the West Indies
Mona, Jamaica
Paper presented at the Twenty-Seventh Conference of Caribbean Historians,
University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana. April 2-7, 1995.
Panel: Legal, Constitutional and Political Developments in 20th-Century Guyana.
Hector A. Joseph, K. C., Attorney General of British Guiana, 1925 - 1936.
by
Joy Lumsden
Department of History
University of the West Indies
Mona, Jamaica
Paper presented at the Twenty-Seventh Conference of Caribbean Historians,
University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana. April 2-7, 1995.
Panel: Legal, Constitutional and Political Developments in 20th-Century Guyana.
In Jamaica
This paper has its ultimate origins in the problems I encountered in my research on Dr J Robert Love, an important Black politician in Jamaica in the late 19th and early 20th century. [1] At that period it is almost impossible to know from the public record what was the skin colour of men, and women, who appeared in the public sphere; colour was very seldom mentioned, except sometimes in the case of lower class individuals; surnames are of little assistance, since they are almost all of British origin, and even those which appear to indicate Jewish ancestry can also be totally misleading. Robert Love is in fact one of the best sources of information on skin colour, as he had no inhibitions, in most cases, in stating the racial background of those he wrote about in the press, not always in the most tasteful terms. He was at pains to identify Black and Coloured men, as part of his campaign to instil race pride in those of African ancestry. From his writings I have been able to establish the identity of numbers of Black men and women who otherwise could appear to be White or Coloured. This problem of identifying Black participants in public life has, I believe, led to a continuing underestimation of the role of the Black middle class and Black intellectuals in Jamaica in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, since comparatively few of them have in fact been identified. Hector A Josephs is one of the most prominent of these 'invisible' Black men. Though there are those older members of the legal profession who remember him, and in consequence know he was Black, both the Jamaican historical record and public perception are almost totally ignorant of his existence.
This paper has its ultimate origins in the problems I encountered in my research on Dr J Robert Love, an important Black politician in Jamaica in the late 19th and early 20th century. [1] At that period it is almost impossible to know from the public record what was the skin colour of men, and women, who appeared in the public sphere; colour was very seldom mentioned, except sometimes in the case of lower class individuals; surnames are of little assistance, since they are almost all of British origin, and even those which appear to indicate Jewish ancestry can also be totally misleading. Robert Love is in fact one of the best sources of information on skin colour, as he had no inhibitions, in most cases, in stating the racial background of those he wrote about in the press, not always in the most tasteful terms. He was at pains to identify Black and Coloured men, as part of his campaign to instil race pride in those of African ancestry. From his writings I have been able to establish the identity of numbers of Black men and women who otherwise could appear to be White or Coloured. This problem of identifying Black participants in public life has, I believe, led to a continuing underestimation of the role of the Black middle class and Black intellectuals in Jamaica in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, since comparatively few of them have in fact been identified. Hector A Josephs is one of the most prominent of these 'invisible' Black men. Though there are those older members of the legal profession who remember him, and in consequence know he was Black, both the Jamaican historical record and public perception are almost totally ignorant of his existence.
When I started to notice the name of Hector Josephs. in the 1890s, in the sources I was using, chiefly newspapers, I assumed that he was a White or Coloured barrister, possibly of some Jewish ancestry (it seemed too early for a Lebanese to be of this status). Anyway, I assumed I knew who the first Black barrister in Jamaica was, as would most other people in Jamaica; he would have been J A G Smith senior, who was a prominent political figure in the 1920s and '30s. It was only when I saw Josephs' photograph in the 1916 edition of Who's Who in Jamaica that I discovered that he was a Black or very dark-skinned Coloured man. Suddenly the picture of the public sphere at the turn of the century looked markedly different from my earlier perceptions. Around 1900 Josephs was one of the five or six barristers prominent in the Kingston courts; not long afterwards I discovered from a line illustration in the Daily Gleaner that another of these Kingston barristers, H M Spencer Josephs was also a Black man.[2] One may question why it is that these men, along with Black solicitors, medical doctors and dentists, and a few business men, have been overlooked and apparently forgotten in the history of Jamaica at this period; the teachers and clergy have been remembered, to some extent, but these men have virtually vanished from the record.
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Although I have some ideas as to the reasons for this neglect, I have very little to base them on.[3] I am therefore more concerned for the moment to try to restore men such as Hector Josephs to a place in the record, in order to begin to introduce a greater balance to a historical schema which has tended to downplay the role of the Black people of Jamaica in the island's development between 1865 and 1914.
One area of interest in respect to the Black middle class at this time is how it came into existence. It seems likely that most Black middle class families achieved upward mobility through either the acquisition of land or of education or possibly both. It would appear that Hector Josephs' family had acquired land; his father, Hector Josephs senior, owned about 27 acres of land in the area just to the north of Matilda's Corner in St Andrew where he grew pineapples, among other crops. He also had a small shop at Matilda's Corner. There is however no indication of his educational background.[4] His son benefitted from what was a good Jamaican education for the period; I do not yet know where he received his primary education, but his secondary schooling was at the Collegiate School and at York Castle. The former was the most important boys' secondary school in Kingston for much of the 19th century, although to-day it is all but forgotten, since it closed in the early 20th century. A high proportion of the prominent Jamaicans of the time attended the school, and Black boys seem to have attended the school without any problems.[5] York Castle, established by the highly respected Coloured Methodist cleric, Dr William Clarke Murray, had a good reputation for scholastic achievement.[6] The result of Josephs' excellent education was his winning of the Jamaica Scholarship in 1891. Although he hoped to go to Oxford, he ended up at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, a traditional college for the study of law.[7]
Remarkably, a section of diary kept by Hector Josephs while at Cambridge, from February to July 1893 has survived in manuscript form and this document gives an enlightening view of the life of a West Indian student in England in the late 19th century.[8] He appears to have fitted into college and university life with ease; like many students he had problems with money, health, doing enough studying and meeting members of the opposite sex. He seems to have coped as well as most students with these problems; probably better than many. He made friends with fellow West Indians, English students and some Indians; he went on holiday with one of his English friends and was very popular with the sisters and female cousins of his friends. If it seems unlikely that a Black West Indian could have fitted in so easily at Cambridge in the 1890s, a comment by a Jamaican, apparently White, in a letter from London printed in the Daily Gleaner in 1901 may clarify the situation:
'But Cambridge is the place to see faces of the darker hues.... Cambridge is emphatically the university for coloured men and it prides itself on the fact, for its traditions have always been as liberal as they have been honourable.' |
The same writer commented on the increased numbers of Black and Coloured people he saw in London, compared with his experience on a visit four or five years earlier.[9] From Josephs' diary entries written in London in July 1893 when he was eating dinners at Lincoln's Inn, it is clear that there was a well established Jamaican community in London, which provided hospitality to the Jamaican students, Further research, I hope, will show the extent and makeup of this Jamaican group in London and reveal its importance in the international linkages of Jamaicans at this period, including in particular the Black middle class. Josephs' diary provides names which make an excellent starting point for this work.
Hector Josephs' academic achievements at Cambridge were not outstanding. His entry in the Who's Who in Jamaica for 1916 records that he was 1st prizeman in Law at Trinity Hall in 1892, which may explain why he had high hopes of a First in Part I of the Law Tripos in 1893. However, he did not do as well as he had hoped in his Tripos exams, but nor did any one else in his year; no one in fact received a First. Josephs could perhaps, in part, blame his poor results on problems he had been having with one of his eyes, which had obliged the college to provide him with a reader in the weeks before the exams. His hopes for an academic career were dashed; the Third he received in Part II Law in 1894 confirmed that he would not have such a career.[10] He went on with his studies at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar on April 29 1896. He also appears to have obtained an LLB from London University in the same year.[11] In spite of many happy memories of England, and Cambridge in particular, he must have returned home to Jamaica somewhat less than satisfied with what he had achieved. It does seem though, that he was the first Black Jamaican to return to the island as a fully qualified barrister.
He was called to the Jamaican Bar on November 25 1896, being presented by J F Cargill and welcomed by the Chief Justice, His Honour Sir Fielding Clarke.[12] In the following years he began to feature in many of the major law cases in Jamaica, both civil and criminal. In late 1899 he was joined by another Black barrister, H M Spencer-Josephs (apparently no relation), who practised in Kingston until around l903.[13] Spencer-Josephs was not to achieve the heights that his name-sake would, but he is an interesting member of the Black middle class at that period, nonetheless. He was the son of a Black schoolmaster, Matthew Josephs, who had outlined his ancestry in an autobiographical preface to a book of verse, The Wonders of Creation, which he had published at his own expense in London, in 1876. In this preface, Matthew Josephs stated that his paternal grandfather, Agullon, was a prince and general of an Eboe tribe, who was captured and brought to Jamaica as a slave around 1780. Agullon was considered a dangerous slave, because of his dissatisfaction with his degraded status; he died two years after emancipation. His paternal grandmother was from Dahomey, but he had no knowledge of his maternal grandparents, who had died before his birth in 1831. From his father, who had been taught to read by a plantation book-keeper, Matthew Josephs learned the importance of education, and was schooled by him up to the age of eight. After this he passed through a Church Missionary Society school and then the Government Normal School at Spanish Town.[14] He spent his working life as a schoolmaster, but after the establishment of elected Parochial Boards in 1885, he was a member of the St Andrew Parochial Board. He had apparently intended one of his sons to be a lawyer form an early stage, but this plan was aborted because of his financial losses from the publication of his book in 1876. It was only in the 1890s, after a career as a teacher and then a land-surveyor, that H M Spencer-Josephs went to London in late 1896 and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in mid-1899. He had the patronage of the President of the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Clements Markham, and of the Duke of Teck while he was in England. It cannot be purely co-incidence that he, like Hector Josephs and other prominent Black Jamaican men of the period, was a Freemason, and had visited some of the oldest and well-known lodges in England.[15] It is likely that Spencer-Josephs had also been in contact with Jamaicans living in England, as had Hector Josephs a few years earlier; Matthew Josephs had been able to call on the services of Robert Gordon, a Black Anglican priest in the London diocese, to write the preface to his book in 1876. Again, in this instance too, it would be of interest to know more about the contacts these Jamaicans had in England.[16]
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While H M Spencer-Josephs disappeared from the legal scene in Jamaica around 1903, Hector Josephs went on from strength to strength in his legal career. Already in 1904 his name was being mentioned as a possible Solicitor General, and in 1905 he started the Jamaica Law Reports.[17] In 1907 he acted as Assistant Attorney General, and filled this position on many occasions up to 1912, when he was appointed Assistant Attorney General. From 1914 to 1916, and again in 1919 he acted as Attorney General; in this official capacity he had a seat on the Legislative Council and the Privy Council.[18] He had gone as far as he apparently could in the Government legal service in Jamaica.
In his legal career he undoubtedly had the support of others in the legal profession. He and his family seem to have had some special link with the Cargill family, a White legal dynasty in Jamaica. He was presented, when he was called to the bar, by J F Gargill, and according to an oral informant his office was in the same building as the Cargills on the corner of Duke Street and Water Lane; here, and at another location after the 1907 earthquake, young men like Marcus Garvey, and older men like John Soulette would meet for discussions of events of current interest. The Cargills apparently were the Josephs' family solicitors.[19] Hector Josephs was one of the Jamaican lawyers involved on the side of the insurance companies after the 1907 earthquake. At some time in his career he worked on a case in Jamaica alongside the prominent English lawyer, Sir Travers Humphreys.[20] In 1911 he took silk, almost certainly the first Black Jamaican to do so; interestingly the then Attorney General, St John Branch, was made a KC on March 22, and one day later the royal appointment of Josephs and H I C Brown as KCs in Jamaica was announced. The first KC in Jamaica had been T B Oughton the previous Attorney General. It is impressive that Josephs should have been given this status virtually simultaneously with the Attorney General, and with Brown, who at this time was Assistant to the Attorney General; Josephs had already acted as Assistant to the Attorney General on several occasions, and clearly had achieved considerable status in the legal community.[21]
Apart from his legal activities, which are impressive in themselves, Hector Josephs began to take a fairly high-profile role in other areas of Jamaican life; here again it would appear that his links with the Cargills had some significance. In June 1900 he was mentioned as having severely strained his back while playing polo and his entries in the Who's Who in Jamaica into the 1920s indicate that he was a member of the Liguanea, Mandeville and Royal Jamaica Yacht Clubs; he had in fact been on the managing committee of the latter as early as 1904. There were members of the Cargill family on the committees of some of these clubs. Although George Steibel, the Black millionaire landowner, had been one of the founding members of the St Andrew Club, it cannot have been entirely routine for Black men, however wealthy or distinguished, to be members of such social clubs at this time; certainly in the 1950s and later the Liguanea and Royal Jamaica Yacht Clubs were considered bastions of White exclusiveness![22] As a graduate of Cambridge, Josephs was welcomed at King's House when the Governor hosted a gathering of Oxford and Cambridge graduates in April 1906.[23] In April 1910 he married Miss Clothilde Cobos, a young lady of Spanish descent, and niece of Mrs P E Auvrey, at the Roman Catholic Presbytry.[24] It appears that he moved with relative ease in Jamaican society, certainly in the pre-World War I period.
As Josephs was clearly interested in working for the Colonial authorities in legal posts, it is hardly surprising that he showed virtually no interest in getting involved with overtly political organisations. In the late 1890s, early in his career, he did become involved with the newly reconstituted Jamaica Association which was being revived in order to protest the action of Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, in filling up the nominated seats in the Legislative Council in order to defeat the Elected Members.[25] He also accepted the position of President of the Kingston Citizens' Association, which had some political connotations, in 1910.[26] Otherwise his activities seem to have been of a predominantly public service character; he was on the Earthquake Relief Committee in 1907, and he worked on behalf of the YMCA and the Boy Scouts. He was a member of the Schools' Commission, and during the war he served as an officer in the Jamaica Reserve Regiment. He was also involved with the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Jamaica.[27]
Possibly the most significant aspect of his participation in Jamaican society was his involvement with Freemasonry; in 1914 he was installed as Master of the Kingston Lodge in a ceremony described as 'one of the most brilliant functions ever held in Kingston'. Among the many Masons present was Lord Corel from England, Sir John Pringle, District Grand Master of the English Constitution and C M Ogilvie, Deputy Grand Master of Scottish Freemasonry. At some point in his Masonic career (before 1916) he was District Grand Registrar of the District Grand Lodge of England in Jamaica.[28] Like the large majority of the successful Black men that my research has indicated in the pre-1920s period in Jamaica, Hector Joseph was an enthusiastic Mason; it is hard not to believe that there was an important connection between their Freemasonry and their success. It is strange that currently it seems to be believed that it is only comparatively recently that Black men have entered the ranks of Freemasonry. Was there in fact some period in the 1920s and '30s onwards when Black men were eased cut of Masonry, as they apparently were from the elite clubs in Jamaica? The questions raised here need much further research, in order to establish whether in fact there was a period of relative social advancement for Black Jamaicans which was, for reasons so far unclear, thrown into reverse in the post-World War I period, by a spontaneous, or possibly a deliberate, White back-lash.
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I have so far been unable to establish clearly the reasons why Hector Josephs did not progress any further than Acting Attorney General in Jamaica, though he was later to serve briefly as an Acting Puisne Judge. The reasons may have been ones of timing, in that the appointment may not have been available when Josephs hoped for further advancement. It is however quite possible that there was reluctance on the part of the Colonial office to advance him in the face of possible local opposition, especially in the legal profession. This is certainly an area in which I wish to pursue further enquiries. It is of some interest to look, at least briefly, at the attitudes of the Colonial Office to the advancement of Black and Coloured men, in the period after the First World War.
From the evidence of letters included in the Governors' despatches in the years immediately following the First World War Colonial Office officials seem to have found themselves embarrassed to know how to deal with the numbers of applications from Jamaicans for posts in the Colonial Service, especially in Africa. Many of these applicants were reasonably well qualified, and often had also served as officers during the War, but the officials in London usually had no clear idea what colour they were. They sent anxious letters back to Jamaica enquiring whether the applicant was of 'pure European descent'; usually he was not, although he might be only slightly Coloured. On one occasion, when an otherwise acceptable candidate turned up in person at the Colonial Office, an official was amazed to find that he was Black; personal visits such as this, or the Governor's response to a query about race, were usually the deciding factors in sealing an applicants fate. Although most of the applicants wanted jobs in West Africa, or in the former German colonies in East Africa, one or two wanted jobs or promotion in the West Indies. The problem was still the same - were they White enough to be accepted in the colonial society in question. As far as the African colonies were concerned, even a slightly Coloured man could only expect to be offered a low level job, although it was stated 'We do not bar coloured men however'; this remark was in relation to a Customs post. For posts in the West Indies, the response was not so clear; there were still enquiries about race, but little indication whether it was a decisive factor. Many of these applicants had served as officers in the West India Regiment, and clearly had regarded this as an indication of their acceptability for other posts after the war. Even if there was a problem for posts in Africa, it is difficult to see why their colour should have been a problem in the West Indies. Several were already in the Government service, and were surely entitled to promotion. In what may be considered typically British style, these racial considerations were never revealed to the applicants for posts. They were fobbed off with forms to fill in, assurances that their applications had been noted, statements that there were no openings at present or that the competition for posts was so great that little hope of an appointment should be entertained. The Black and Coloured applicants were left to guess, as they no doubt did, that they were the wrong colour for most posts in the Colonial Service, especially outside the West Indies.[29]
Surprisingly, given the levels of concern indicated above, little comment was made about Josephs' colour when he applied to go to British Guiana as Acting Attorney General in 1921. The Colonial Office officials seemed possibly unaware that he was a dark-skinned Coloured man. They accepted the recommendations of Governor Probyn and Attorney General St John Branch of Jamaica with little question. Probyn pointed out that, while Josephs acted as Attorney General 'he has conducted all legal work in the Legislative Council, and, in doing so he has succeeded in making the Government policy acceptable to the Elected Members.' Branch wrote 'Mr Josephs is a sound and capable lawyer and would I believe perform the duties of Attorney General for British Guiana ably and well' and this seemed to satisfy the Colonial Office.[30] There were a number of references in the press, both in Jamaica and Guiana to the regrets in the former that Josephs was leaving, but at the same time praise for his achievements and congratulations to Guiana on acquiring his services.[31] When he reached British Guiana in January 1921, Josephs apparently soon earned the approval of the Governor, Sir Wilfred Collet, who wrote in April 1921 that he should be appointed a KC in the colony, as he was in Jamaica, saying 'I consider that Mr Josephs is of more than average ability.'[32] It seems that, whatever reservations there may have been in British Guiana about Josephs' appointment, he was welcomed there politely, and quickly became accepted as a valued member of the community.
He was soon involved in court cases and the work of the legislative bodies, but apart from his official duties, he took part in activities connected with various organisations, as he had done in Jamaica. He established his legal reputation with the first case he prosecuted, that of Christie Davidson for the murder of Sydney Outram; Davidson was found guilty and hanged, and Josephs' final speech for the prosecution was long remembered. In August 1921 a columnist in the Daily Argosy recalled the speech and the reputation it had helped to create:
'Mr Hector Josephs, it might surprise you to know how much fame you are achieving in this colony. Primarily you are hailed as you are the first man of your kind to hold the exalted position you dignify. Next you are given a very high estimate because your honours sit well on your shoulders. You well become them; they have not caused you to run riot amongst your fellows as so many of your stamp do with even a trifling portion of the honour Fortune has strewn in your path. Then, you are acclaimed as a brilliant ornament to the local Bar and a fine example of what your race can produce, given the opportunity. Your speech which sent Davidson to the gallows - I use the term advisedly - will not soon be forgotten. Its pointedness, the beautiful diction you employed, the clarity of argument you exemplified, will ever remain green in the memories of all who heard you that day.' [33] |
Despite the patronising tone of this passage, it gives a clear idea of the kind of impact Josephs had quickly made. How he looked from another perspective appears in a remark reported in the following year - 'But you know deh got a man in this colony wha dose give people a lot of trouble? You know he name Hector Josephs? When he charge you, you proper got trouble. He name the king of trouble. Go ask Davidson.'[34]
Josephs' impact in the Combined Court can best be gauged perhaps from the farewell speeches in that body, when he was leaving in early 1923: R E Brassington, speaking on behalf of the Electives said '... they had been struck by the very capable manner in which the Attorney General had handled all the Bills that came before the Court of Policy especially. He always thought that Mr Josephs got through with them with the minimum of friction and with the greatest celerity.... He thought there was hardly an occasion when any member came in conflict with him.' Mr A R F Webber on behalf of the Financial Representatives concurred: 'They all bare testimony to the tact and courtesy with which the Attorney General received them whenever they had had to differ from him in the Court or call on him at his chambers and pester him with their views. They all hoped that if in the order of things he was ordered back to British Guiana he would feel that his welcome would be just as warm as their regrets were profound now that the ordering of things took him from them. He was a product of a splendid country and was a splendid man.' The Officer Administering the Government (between Governors), Popham Lobb, said that '... he could never want to find anyone who showed more courtesy, good nature and readiness to oblige than he found in Mr Josephs.... and he was astonished at the extraordinary mastery which he found Mr Josephs had over his materials.'[35] There seems no need to doubt that these expressions of esteem were sincere; Josephs was indeed welcomed back when he returned as Attorney General some years later.
As in Jamaica, Hector Josephs became involved in a number of public service organisations. In many instances he was involved in the same areas. The Boy Scouts, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the YMCA, and the Salvation Army all received his support; he chaired functions and held office in some. His wife, who had joined him with their two daughters soon after his arrival, was also present at many functions of these societies. They both attended other functions, such as weddings and receptions, together. Hector Josephs presided at special occasions such as an entertainment in aid of the victims of the Bourda fire, and he gave lectures on Jamaica. He, however, was unable to attend a meeting of the B G Labour Union, at which the Garveyite, Dr Tobbitt was to speak - understandably, given his official position. One marked omission from this record of public activity is any mention of participation in any Masonic functions; whether this is a reflection of the position of Freemasonry in Guiana, or of the influence of his wife, a devout Catholic, I do not know. It is another point to be further researched.[36]
A final item of note in relation to the impact Josephs made on his first stay in British Guiana arose in connection with the Wood Commission, which visited in 1922. Clearly, the Commissions activities and objectives were not well understood by many ordinary people, and some strange rumours began to circulate as to its real purpose. The coincidental presence of Dr Tobbitt only added to the confusion. An indication of the Impact that Josephs had made was the story that 'Major Wood is engaged in the task of arranging for the creation of a West Indian Empire with the Attorney General of this colony as the first Emperor.'[37] Hector Josephs was up-staging Marcus Garvey!
Josephs returned to Jamaica after long leave in Britain and on the continent with his wife and daughters.[38] He continued to fill his previous position as Assistant Attorney General, and also resumed his involvement with various public service organisations, such as the YMCA and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He appeared in court with other prominent Jamaican barristers of the period, such as J A G Smith and N W Manley, sometimes on the same side, sometimes opposing them.[39] During this period Josephs was appointed as an acting Puisne Judge and sat on the Supreme Court bench; he was an acting Puisne Judge up to the time that he took up his appointment to the post of Attorney General of Guiana, which had been vacated, finally, by Sir Joseph Nunan. This appointment was announced in April 1925, and Josephs left Jamaica for Guiana in mid-October.[40]
When the question of this permanent appointment in British Guiana came up in February 1925, the topic of colour was strongly raised with the Colonial Office, in contradistinction to the virtual lack of concern at the time of his earlier acting appointment. The retiring Attorney General, Nunan, was firmly opposed to Josephs' appointment, in large part, possibly, on the grounds of his colour and the problems it would cause among the legal profession in the colony. The then Governor, Sir Graeme Thomson, was also opposed; he asked very clearly that, if the appointment was made from outside the colony, the man should be of pure European origin.[41] In a confidential telegram two months later, Thomson expanded on his reasons for opposing the appointment:
'A great deal of political power in this Colony rests with the coloured lawyers who have in the past sought bring undue influence bear on the Attorney General. This makes it essential that the holder of the Office should be man of strength of character and moral courage. While appreciating fully the policy of His Majesty's Government as regards gradual introduction of coloured race into the higher appointments I would regard the appointment contemplated with misgiving unless you are absolutely satisfied that Joseph possesses the above mentioned qualities. I am informed moreover on reliable authority that the appointment of the person named would not be welcomed by the coloured members of his own profession. Experience has shown that he would not be accepted socially by the European community in the manner to which his position would entitle him an attitude which efforts on my part would I fear fail materially to modify and which would prevent him from acquiring the local knowledge which I venture to think a man in his position should possess.' [42] |
Thomson's telegram raised a number of issues which the Colonial Office officials noted but seemed ready to discount. CRD (C R Darnley?), who backed the claims of coloured applicants throughout these exchanges, stated firmly that unless the Secretary of State sometimes disregarded the drawbacks of appointing coloured officers, they 'will be confined to junior posts. There will scarcely ever be a stronger case than Josephs, and probably his unpopularity with the local bar is due to a necessary independence.' Other officials concurred: GG (Sir G Grindle) recalled recommendations from Jamaica, and HR (Sir H Read) recalling Governor Collets backing for Josephs, wrote 'I think one Gov may cancel the other & Mr Josephs' merits tip the balance.' WOG (Mr Ormsby-Gore) perhaps clinched the matter with 'I know Mr Josephs personally. He is an exceptional man.'[43]
Some of the Colonial Office officials by that time seem however to have been in favour of the idea of appointing West Indians, especially Coloured and Black men, if they were adequately qualified, as a deliberate policy of opening up the service to all, regardless of race. Darnley in particular could always be depended upon to support Josephs; in countering the objections of Nunan and Thomson he outlined a stance which seems to run counter, to some extent, to previous concerns about colour. In his comment on Thomsons dispatch of January 14 1925, he wrote to Sir G Grindle
'In spite of occasional difficulties, the feeling between the white and coloured races is probably better in the West Indies than anywhere else in the world. This is largely due to the fact that there has been a career open to genuine talent. This is clearly a case in which the door ought not to be closed, and I recommend that Mr Josephs be considered on his merits with such other candidates as may be forthcoming, and that in the event of his being selected it should be explained to the Governor that the Secretary of State considers that there are strong reasons of policy and justice why coloured officers of outstanding merit should not be excluded from consideration for such appointments.' [44] |
Although the first two sentences of this comment hardly seem to tally with opinions expressed by Thomson and Nunan, or with other notes by Colonial Office officials, the latter part sets out a clear policy line that the Governor is expected to accept and follow. It is interesting to note that in this ongoing discussion of Josephs and his situation it is Governor Collet who supports a Coloured applicant, while Governor Thomson decisively opposes him. In Harold Lutchmans book From Colonialism to Co-operative Republic Collet is shown as being distinctly unpopular in British Guiana for his arbitrary and dictatorial administration, while Thomson was seen as more approachable and more well-disposed towards the Guianese people.[45] This view of Thomson is not borne out in a reading of his dispatches. In May of 1925 Thomson was writing to the Secretary of State complaining in the bitterest terms of the Electives in the Combined Court, using terms such as 'wholly venal and unscrupulous', 'thoroughly dishonest', 'ignorant and opinionated' and 'devoid of any stability of character' to describe various Elected Members.[46] It was probably well for British Guiana, and for Hector Josephs, that a Governor so out of tune with the colony remained there for less than two years.
When Josephs left Jamaica there were expressions of regret that he was leaving the island again. In April when the possible appointment was first announced the Gleaner editorialised on 'A Loss To Jamaica', characterising him as 'a man learned in the law, a man naturally adapted by his intellectual affinities and directions to be a lawyer, a keen analytical thinker, a patient, thoughtful, earnest man.' It also spoke of 'his essential modesty, his undisturbed calmness and balance of mind and temperament, his simple dignity, his pleasant friendliness.' In October when he was on the point of leaving a Gleaner columnist wrote:
'Au revoir to Mr Justice Josephs. One of the ablest and most talented sons of Jamaica departs from these shores on Monday to take up duties in British Guiana as Attorney General. Jamaica's loss is Guiana's gain. We shall follow his progress in the sister colony with more than passing interest and with the hope that he shall come back to his native land in the near future to adorn its bench in the highest and most coveted position.' [47] |
In response to another such farewell, Josephs, after thanking his well-wishers for their kindness and good wishes, said 'He was going to a colony in which he had served already so that he was not going as a stranger.' [48] And so indeed it proved; he fitted back into the Guianese scene with barely a ripple, almost as if he had never left.
In part, this ease of return may have been due to the general relief in the colony at seeing the back of his predecessor. Nunan had spent much of his time outside the colony, on various missions, had gained a very unsavoury reputation, in some quarters, as a 'king-maker' who had contrived the removal of a Governor and a Colonial Secretary, and had been described by Governor Thomson as being, in early 1925, 'mentally unbalanced' and speaking and acting 'irrationally'. [49] A man of Josephs' character must have seemed a welcome change.
When Josephs died in 1936, the editorial in the Daily Argosy included this paragraph:
'In the social life of this Colony MR JOSEPHS played a considerable part. His interests were by no means confined to the Y.M.C.A. of which he was an ardent supporter. His many-sided interests in this direction will long be remembered with gratitude, as will also be his interest in Sport during his sojourn in the colony.' [50] |
Within the first few months of returning to British Guiana in mid-November 1925, Josephs was back in the swing of organisational activities: as in the past the YMCA, the Scouts and the SPCA all claimed his attention and he was president of each for varying periods of time. He maintained this interest until his declining health in 1936 began to limit his activities. He was also involved to varying degrees with the Young Men's Improvement Association, the Salvation Army, the Georgetown Shorthand Writers Association, the BG Football Association, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Band of Mercy, the BG Producers' Association, the World Brotherhood Movement (of which Canon Dick Shepherd was President) and the BG Teachers' Association. His wife was involved with the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association and the Gentlewomen's Relief Association, and they both gave support to the Circle of Sunshine Workers, a children's welfare group. In addition to these purely voluntary groups, Josephs also served as chairman of the board of Queen's College, and on the committee of the Georgetown Free Library. He gave talks from time to time; soon after his return he lectured to the Farmers' Conference on growing pineapples, drawing on his own and his father's experience in farming. He tried, not apparently successfully, to organise an orchestra, the New Emerald Orchestra, in 1926, and, more happily, was involved in organising the annual dinners for graduates of London University, which started in 1931. He extended hospitality to the Jamaican cycle team which visited in 1932. He attended numbers of funerals, some of officials, but also some of people he had obviously known socially, and in his profession. Strangely perhaps, it is only in the case of the funerals of two men who were obviously Masons that there is any indication of his earlier strong Masonic involvement; otherwise there seems to be no sign of any continuing interest in the movement on his part. It is clear however that he played a very active role in a number of aspects of Guianese life; his name appears constantly in the lists of those present at a wide range of official and other functions.[51]
Certainly the most important aspects of Hector Josephs' career in British Guiana were those which involved his work in the courts, his drafting of legislation and advice to governors, and his participation in the legislative bodies of the colony. He was also a member of various committees and commissions which influenced the colony's development. Even if I had in fact done the necessary in-depth research to discuss these areas adequately there would not be space to do so in this paper. I can therefore only sketch in some of the more obvious issues.[52]
There was never any major disagreement over Josephs' skill as a lawyer, and there were many tributes to his legal knowledge, and to his abilities in cross-examination. The Tribune commented on his questions to witnesses before the Labour Commission in 1936 in which he was 'demonstrating his astuteness as a sound lawyer'.[53] In a tribute after his death, S J Van Sertima KC said 'To his outstanding ability and his wide knowledge of the law, I cannot speak too highly'.[54] This knowledge and ability had been displayed in the Guianese courts throughout his period of service, though he frequently had to leave other lawyers to prosecute because of his commitments in the legislature. Latterly he appeared less often in court, as age and the pressures of an increasing work load took their toll. In 1932 he served as Chief Justice of British Guiana, while Sir Anthony De Freitas was on leave; had he been a younger man he might have succeeded Sir Anthony in that post. In October 1933 Sir Edward Denham, the then Governor, wrote to the Colonial Office, when the vacancy was coming up, 'Josephs, a really able A.G. would, I know, like to retire as C.J. but though I consider he would make a very good one, he will be 62 next February and he is tiring - we want a younger man.'[55]
As well as in court work, his legal expertise was important in the drafting of laws; according to Van Sertima 'To British Guiana he has bequeathed a legacy of legislation on a variety of topics as difficult as they are manifold.'[56] In a rather ambivalent editorial in 1933 when Josephs was going on leave, and was thought possibly to be retiring, The Tribune pointed to the Rent Restriction Ordinance and the Industrial and Provident Societies Ordinance as his two most valuable achievements.[57] The Argosy referred to occasions when Josephs stoutly opposed the Governor over legislation, as on the question of doing away with equal leave facilities for 'creole' and British officials which was mooted by Governor Guggisberg. It also spoke of Josephs opposing impractical measures but devoting his 'massive aid brilliant intellect' to work on other measures 'on behalf of the Government and the people of this colony'.[58] The amount and scope of the work that Josephs did is clear from his contributions to debates in the legislative bodies, and from his draft laws which appear in the despatches to the Colonial Office; this work deserves a far more detailed study than this brief comment.
He also gave invaluable advice and support to successive governors, but in later years became slower in his response to queries. In an issue over a possible criminal libel suit against the New Daily Chronicle for portraying a donkey dressed in the governor's uniform, Josephs at first advised prosecution. But according to Governor Northcote, the Attorney General was 'slow, very slow, in advising, although he was all for action eventually.' The Governor then asked if the editor should be warned against repeating the offence (the idea of prosecution having been dropped) but at the time of writing 'that wise but tortoise like lawyer is still pondering his advice!' [59]
Another area of involvement: worthy of consideration was Josephs' participation in a number of committees and commissions which investigated and made reports on various significant aspects of Guianese affairs. He made an innovative report containing proposals for changes in Local Administration, in 1931, which in spite of many promises had not been put in place. He served on the Constitutional Commission in 1927, which radically altered the legislature, and was chairman of the Labour Commission which investigated the conditions which were leading to labour unrest in 1936. He was still involved with the report of this Commission when he was incapacitated by the heart condition which caused his death later in 1936. Northcote commented:
'It is unfortunate that the Chairman (Mr. Hector Josephs K.C., a black man) was unable to take part in the preparation of the report, though he concurred generally in the views of the other Commissioners. He was a sick man and has since died. I have read the evidence and he appears to have conducted the enquiry very ably and to have kept the representatives of the British Guiana Sugar Producers Association in order.' |
Another official noted that he 'had to resist a suggestion by Josephs that he should take the draft [report] to Jamaica to complete.' Five weeks after that comment was made, Hector Josephs was dead.[60]
During his career, especially in British Guiana, Josephs had successfully made himself 'all things to all men': when he left the colony and after his death, the breadth of the respect for him was clear from the many tributes from very varied sections of the community. The Negro Progress Convention wrote:
'Mr Josephs was not only a distinguished West Indian, but a great Negro.... Since his appointment to the Attorney Generalship of this country eleven years ago, he had done a good deal to promote the welfare of the people of this country.... He performed his duty with such meticulous care, thoroughness and impartiality that he brought credit to his race. The name of the late Mr Hector Josephs was a household word in this Country. The unassuming and charming disposition of the man made him a popular figure among every section of the community.' [61] |
His successor, J H B Nihill, speaking to the Hindu Religious Society, said:
'I had already heard details of the work [of the Society] from my predecessor, Mr Hector Josephs, whom I know you all knew and loved. [He] told me of the really wonderful development and progress which this work has shown in the years in which he was in this colony.... .' [62] |
The President of the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association, after Josephs' death, said that the Chamber 'has special reason to deplore his loss, as from the very inception of the Chamber, the late Mr Hector Josephs was one of its very good friends' and had worked hard on the project of having the Chamber incorporated once funds were available. [63] Even The Tribune which had not always treated Josephs very kindly, printed laudatory verses at the time of his death which included the line 'Great Star of Afric Progeny'. [64]
The Daily Chronicle editorial on the occasion of Josephs' departure in August 1936 made clear the significance of his career:
'Why decorations from the King such as were awarded his predecessors should have so sedulously avoided him , we cannot of course speak with any authority; and perhaps it is improper to inquire. But Mr. Josephs may probably feel that of more importance than titles is the fact that his career here must have convinced the Colonial Office of a few things. He is of the West Indian Earth earthy and no valedictory would be complete without asking once again whether it would not be advisable for the Colonial Office to extend the practice of filling such posts in the West Indies from the ranks of the permanent residents of the West Indies....there is no lack of talented British Guianese lawyers who would have been well able to carry on the work of Attorney General as well as any European available.' [65] |
' "We could have our individualities: we could have our race pride, certainly, and the religion of our race etc," Mr. Josephs said, "but it is no good fencing up ourselves with barbed wire entanglements so that we do not come into contact with the races of the world, the races of the people around us." In the 1930s people who isolated themselves and did not come into contact with others retrograded and faded away. He was sure in the 14 years he was in this country that that had been changed. They had advanced in that respect. He urged all Guianese to be patriotic, to have a feeling of nationhood, to take a pride in their country and sink all feelings of race in that broader patriotism.'[66] |
Notes:
1. Joyce Lumsden, 'Robert Love and Jamaican Politics', Unpublished thesis, UWI, 1988. I am grateful to Bridget Brereton for first making me look at the problem of identifying Black Jamaicans at this period and start to consider the implications of the problem.
2. Daily Gleaner 16 Mar 1900 p7
3. It seems quite possible that neglect of Black Jamaicans at this period is only a part of a general ignorance of a time in Jamaican history when nothing 'exciting' seemed to be happening; White and Coloured individuals of the time have been equally forgotten. However there is more to it than this. There has been considerable interest in the history of Black people in Jamaica, but it has been concentrated on the period of slavery, the Morant Bay Rebellion and the Marcus Garvey movement. It is at least possible that, in a prevailing atmosphere of anti-colonialism for many years the Black middle classes of the late 19th and early 20th century, who, to a large extent tried to assimilate to the prevailing norms of colonial society, have not seemed a worthwhile topic of research. Some work has been done however, especially by Patrick Bryan in The Jamaican People 1880-1902 (London, 1991), and perhaps the time is now right to further remedy this situation.
4. I am very grateful to Miss Mercedes Josephs for making available to me material she has relating to her father, Hector A Josephs, and her grandfather, Hector Josephs senior. The most important document is undoubtedly the fragment of a diary kept by her father at Cambridge and in London in 1893 and 1896; I am most grateful to Miss Josephs for allowing me to transcribe the diary; the original remains in her possession. Miss Josephs also kindly talked to me about her father and her family.
5. Daily Gleaner 31 Aug 1901 p9 - account of a prize giving at the Collegiate School. I have noted many other references to the school throughout its existence, and I hope to be able in future work to indicate its importance in 19th century Jamaica.
6. Daily Gleaner 1 July 1909 p1 obituary
7. Gall's News Letter 8 May 1891 p2; diary entry 8 April 1893 - while visiting Oxford Josephs noted that he had wanted to go to Merton, but his ignorance of Greek had prevented him from doing so.
8. The diary fragment starts on 21 Feb 1893 and continues with some gaps to 15 July 1893; there are further brief entries for 11 Oct to 14 Nov 1896, a period just before his return to Jamaica.
9. Daily Gleaner 10 Dec 1901 p7
10. Diary entries May 1893; entries in student records, Trinity Hall
11. Records from Lincoln's Inn and London University
12. Jamaica Post 26 Nov 1896 p2
13. References to Spencer-Josephs do not seem to occur after 1902 in either the newspapers or the Handbook of Jamaica, but I have not so far discovered what happened to him. I suspect that he died, possibly in 1903; he had not been in good health even before he went to London to read for the Bar in the late 1890s. (Later research confirmed his death in Bermuda in 1903.)
14. Matthew Josephs, Wonders of Creation and other poems, London, 1876
15. Daily Gleaner 2 Oct 1899 p6; 12 Oct 1901 p5
16. Wonders of Creation op cit. Preface by Rev Robert Gordon. Gordon was the first Black Anglican priest in Jamaica; at this time he was working in London in an East End parish. He died in 1885, and at the time of his death he was working on a history of Jamaica.
17. Jamaica Advocate 16 July l904 p2; 22 July 1905 p2
18. Who's Who (in Jamaica) 1924 p140 and many other references.
19. Interviews with Miss Mercedes Josephs and Spencer Soulette, son of John Soulette.
20. I cannot at this moment locate a reference to the 1907 Earthquake case, but Miss Josephs has a newspaper clipping of a photograph of her father with the other lawyers involved in the case; unidentified and undated paper clipping in the possession of Miss Josephs. An article headed 'My Holiday Murder Case' by Mr Justice Humphreys describes a Jamaican case in which both Humphreys and Josephs were involved. Humphreys was a well known King's Bench Judge, 1928-1951.
21. Daily Gleaner 4 April 1911 p13
22. Who's Who 1924 loc cit
23. Daily Gleaner 10 April 1906 p11
24. Ibid. 4 April 1910 p14; P E Auvrey had owned a grocery store at 49 King Street.
25. Ibid. 21 April. 1925 p1
26. Ibid. 28 April 1910 p4
27. Ibid. 7 May 1925 p3; 21 Sept 1936 p1; Who's Who loc cit
28. Daily Gleaner 6 Feb 1914 p3
29. All the information on applicants for posts comes from letters and official comments in CO 137/728-736 covering the period Oct 1918 to Dec 1919. I am sure there must be similar material in the files at other periods and in other territories, but this is where I have seen the most discussion of these issues in the Jamaica files.
30. CO 137/741 43428 1920 9 Aug Despatch from Gov Probyn
31. Daily Chronicle (Demerara) 16 Jan 1921 p5 report of farewell function at the Movie Theatre, Cross Roads, Jamaica. organised by the St Andrew Rate-Payers Association.
32. CO 111/638 20581 1922 4 April Conf Gov Collet
33. Daily Argosy (Demerara) 28 Aug 1921 p5
34. Ibid. 29 Jan 1922 p4
35. Ibid. 29 Mar 1923 p4
36. Daily Argosy and Daily Chronicle 1921 to 1923 passim.
37. Daily Chronicle 25 Feb 1922 p4
38. Daily Argosy 6 June 1923 p4
39. Daily Gleaner 1924-1925 passim
40. Ibid. 21 March p12; 21 April p1; 7 Oct p3; 20 Oct p2; 1925; Daily Argosy 8 Jan 1925 p4
41. CO 111/657 5749 1925 6 Feb Despatch from Gov Thomson
42. CO 111/657 15582 3925 4 Apr Confidential Telegram from Gov Thomson
43. Ibid. comments by officials
44. CO 111/657 5749 op cit
45. Harold Alexander Lutchman, From Colonialism to Co-operative Republic: Aspects of Political Development in Guyana, Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Pedras, Puerto Rico, 1974
46. CO 111/657 27603 17 June 1925 Confidential Despatch from Gov Thomson
47. Daily Gleaner 22 April p10; 17 Oct p3 1925
48. Ibid. 17 Oct 1925 p12
49. Daily Argosy 8 Jan p4;25 Sept p4 1926;CO 111/657 27603 op cit pp10-11
50. Daily Argosy 22 Sept 1936 p4
51. Ibid. 1926-1936 passim
52. I hope I will later be able to develop this section, and earlier sections of the paper into a more substantial piece on Hector Josephs.
53. The Tribune 15 Mar 1936 p2
54. Daily Chronicle 22 Sept 1936 p7
55. CO 111/711 15097 letter from Denham to Bushe 24 Oct 1936
56. Daily Chronicle loc cit
57. The Tribune 23 July 1933 p2
58. Daily Argosy 22 Sept 1936 p4
59. CO 111/728 60149 telegram and letter from Gov Northcote
60. Daily Chronicle 3 August 1936 p4 (an editorial appreciation from which the title quotation 'all but unique' is taken; it is worth reading in its entirety.); CO 111/669 38285 Rodwell to Amery Conf; CO 111/732 60036 Northcote to Beckett etc
61. Daily Chronicle 27 Sept 1936 p4
62. Daily Argosy 14 Aug 1936 p5
63. Daily Chronicle 7 Oct 1936 p7
64. The Tribune 4 Oct 1936 p2; unfortunately the issue of the paper which might have contained an obituary was missing in the microfilm at the British Library at Colindale.
65. Daily Chronicle 3 Aug 1936 p4 op cit
1. Joyce Lumsden, 'Robert Love and Jamaican Politics', Unpublished thesis, UWI, 1988. I am grateful to Bridget Brereton for first making me look at the problem of identifying Black Jamaicans at this period and start to consider the implications of the problem.
2. Daily Gleaner 16 Mar 1900 p7
3. It seems quite possible that neglect of Black Jamaicans at this period is only a part of a general ignorance of a time in Jamaican history when nothing 'exciting' seemed to be happening; White and Coloured individuals of the time have been equally forgotten. However there is more to it than this. There has been considerable interest in the history of Black people in Jamaica, but it has been concentrated on the period of slavery, the Morant Bay Rebellion and the Marcus Garvey movement. It is at least possible that, in a prevailing atmosphere of anti-colonialism for many years the Black middle classes of the late 19th and early 20th century, who, to a large extent tried to assimilate to the prevailing norms of colonial society, have not seemed a worthwhile topic of research. Some work has been done however, especially by Patrick Bryan in The Jamaican People 1880-1902 (London, 1991), and perhaps the time is now right to further remedy this situation.
4. I am very grateful to Miss Mercedes Josephs for making available to me material she has relating to her father, Hector A Josephs, and her grandfather, Hector Josephs senior. The most important document is undoubtedly the fragment of a diary kept by her father at Cambridge and in London in 1893 and 1896; I am most grateful to Miss Josephs for allowing me to transcribe the diary; the original remains in her possession. Miss Josephs also kindly talked to me about her father and her family.
5. Daily Gleaner 31 Aug 1901 p9 - account of a prize giving at the Collegiate School. I have noted many other references to the school throughout its existence, and I hope to be able in future work to indicate its importance in 19th century Jamaica.
6. Daily Gleaner 1 July 1909 p1 obituary
7. Gall's News Letter 8 May 1891 p2; diary entry 8 April 1893 - while visiting Oxford Josephs noted that he had wanted to go to Merton, but his ignorance of Greek had prevented him from doing so.
8. The diary fragment starts on 21 Feb 1893 and continues with some gaps to 15 July 1893; there are further brief entries for 11 Oct to 14 Nov 1896, a period just before his return to Jamaica.
9. Daily Gleaner 10 Dec 1901 p7
10. Diary entries May 1893; entries in student records, Trinity Hall
11. Records from Lincoln's Inn and London University
12. Jamaica Post 26 Nov 1896 p2
13. References to Spencer-Josephs do not seem to occur after 1902 in either the newspapers or the Handbook of Jamaica, but I have not so far discovered what happened to him. I suspect that he died, possibly in 1903; he had not been in good health even before he went to London to read for the Bar in the late 1890s. (Later research confirmed his death in Bermuda in 1903.)
14. Matthew Josephs, Wonders of Creation and other poems, London, 1876
15. Daily Gleaner 2 Oct 1899 p6; 12 Oct 1901 p5
16. Wonders of Creation op cit. Preface by Rev Robert Gordon. Gordon was the first Black Anglican priest in Jamaica; at this time he was working in London in an East End parish. He died in 1885, and at the time of his death he was working on a history of Jamaica.
17. Jamaica Advocate 16 July l904 p2; 22 July 1905 p2
18. Who's Who (in Jamaica) 1924 p140 and many other references.
19. Interviews with Miss Mercedes Josephs and Spencer Soulette, son of John Soulette.
20. I cannot at this moment locate a reference to the 1907 Earthquake case, but Miss Josephs has a newspaper clipping of a photograph of her father with the other lawyers involved in the case; unidentified and undated paper clipping in the possession of Miss Josephs. An article headed 'My Holiday Murder Case' by Mr Justice Humphreys describes a Jamaican case in which both Humphreys and Josephs were involved. Humphreys was a well known King's Bench Judge, 1928-1951.
21. Daily Gleaner 4 April 1911 p13
22. Who's Who 1924 loc cit
23. Daily Gleaner 10 April 1906 p11
24. Ibid. 4 April 1910 p14; P E Auvrey had owned a grocery store at 49 King Street.
25. Ibid. 21 April. 1925 p1
26. Ibid. 28 April 1910 p4
27. Ibid. 7 May 1925 p3; 21 Sept 1936 p1; Who's Who loc cit
28. Daily Gleaner 6 Feb 1914 p3
29. All the information on applicants for posts comes from letters and official comments in CO 137/728-736 covering the period Oct 1918 to Dec 1919. I am sure there must be similar material in the files at other periods and in other territories, but this is where I have seen the most discussion of these issues in the Jamaica files.
30. CO 137/741 43428 1920 9 Aug Despatch from Gov Probyn
31. Daily Chronicle (Demerara) 16 Jan 1921 p5 report of farewell function at the Movie Theatre, Cross Roads, Jamaica. organised by the St Andrew Rate-Payers Association.
32. CO 111/638 20581 1922 4 April Conf Gov Collet
33. Daily Argosy (Demerara) 28 Aug 1921 p5
34. Ibid. 29 Jan 1922 p4
35. Ibid. 29 Mar 1923 p4
36. Daily Argosy and Daily Chronicle 1921 to 1923 passim.
37. Daily Chronicle 25 Feb 1922 p4
38. Daily Argosy 6 June 1923 p4
39. Daily Gleaner 1924-1925 passim
40. Ibid. 21 March p12; 21 April p1; 7 Oct p3; 20 Oct p2; 1925; Daily Argosy 8 Jan 1925 p4
41. CO 111/657 5749 1925 6 Feb Despatch from Gov Thomson
42. CO 111/657 15582 3925 4 Apr Confidential Telegram from Gov Thomson
43. Ibid. comments by officials
44. CO 111/657 5749 op cit
45. Harold Alexander Lutchman, From Colonialism to Co-operative Republic: Aspects of Political Development in Guyana, Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Pedras, Puerto Rico, 1974
46. CO 111/657 27603 17 June 1925 Confidential Despatch from Gov Thomson
47. Daily Gleaner 22 April p10; 17 Oct p3 1925
48. Ibid. 17 Oct 1925 p12
49. Daily Argosy 8 Jan p4;25 Sept p4 1926;CO 111/657 27603 op cit pp10-11
50. Daily Argosy 22 Sept 1936 p4
51. Ibid. 1926-1936 passim
52. I hope I will later be able to develop this section, and earlier sections of the paper into a more substantial piece on Hector Josephs.
53. The Tribune 15 Mar 1936 p2
54. Daily Chronicle 22 Sept 1936 p7
55. CO 111/711 15097 letter from Denham to Bushe 24 Oct 1936
56. Daily Chronicle loc cit
57. The Tribune 23 July 1933 p2
58. Daily Argosy 22 Sept 1936 p4
59. CO 111/728 60149 telegram and letter from Gov Northcote
60. Daily Chronicle 3 August 1936 p4 (an editorial appreciation from which the title quotation 'all but unique' is taken; it is worth reading in its entirety.); CO 111/669 38285 Rodwell to Amery Conf; CO 111/732 60036 Northcote to Beckett etc
61. Daily Chronicle 27 Sept 1936 p4
62. Daily Argosy 14 Aug 1936 p5
63. Daily Chronicle 7 Oct 1936 p7
64. The Tribune 4 Oct 1936 p2; unfortunately the issue of the paper which might have contained an obituary was missing in the microfilm at the British Library at Colindale.
65. Daily Chronicle 3 Aug 1936 p4 op cit