Paul Bogle led the Morant Bay rebellion on October 11, 1865, with about 200-300 black people. He became the National hero of Jamaica in 1969. It is believed that Paul Bogle was born free in an estimated period of between the years 1815 and 1822 in Stony Gut, St. Thomas, a few miles…

Born to a slave mother and a planter father who was an attorney to several sugar estates in Jamaica, George William Gordon was self-educated. He was also a landowner in the parish of St. Thomas. George William Gordon was born in the year 1820 to a slave mother, Ann Rattray, and a Scottish…

Nanny was a leader of the Maroons at the beginning of the 18th century. She was known by both the British Settlers and the Maroons as an outstanding military leader who became, in her lifetime and thereafter, a symbol of unity and strength for her people during times of crisis. Nanny of the…

He was Jamaica’s first National Hero. Garvey was born in St. Ann’s Bay on August 17, 1887. In his youth he migrated to Kingston where he worked as a printer and later went on to publishing a small paper called “The Watchman Marcus Mosiah Garvey was named Jamaica’s first National Hero. He was…

When Alexander Bustamante began to make his presence felt in Jamaica, the country was still a Crown Colony. Under this system, the Governor had the right to veto at all times, which he very often exercised against the wishes of the majority. Sir Alexander Bustamante was born on February 24, 1884 in a…

Samuel Sharpe was the main instigator of the 1831 Slave Rebellion, which began on the Kensington Estate in St. James and which was largely instrumental in bringing about the abolition of slavery. Because of his intelligence and leadership qualities, Sam Sharpe became a “daddy”, or leader of the native Baptists in Montego Bay. Religious…

Norman Washington Manley was born at Roxborough, Manchester, on July 4, 1893. He was a brilliant scholar and athlete, a soldier in World War I and a lawyer. 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…