Audrey Layne Jeffers CM, OBE (12 February 1898 – 24 June 1968) was a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er and the first female member of the

Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago The Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago served as an advisory commission to the governor in British-ruled Trinidad and Tobago, between 1831 and independence in 1962. The Legislative Council consisted of a mixture of appointed and elected me ...

Life

Born in

Woodbrook, Port of Spain The Woodbrook district, west of Downtown, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, was formerly a sugar estate owned by the Siegert family of Angostura bitters fame. The estate was sold to the Town Board in 1911 and developed into a residential neighbo ...

, Trinidad,"Audrey Jeffers (1896-1968), ''Profiles - Heroes, Pioneers and Role Models of Trinidad and Tobago''
, Safari Publications, pp. 47–48. to an upper-middle-class family, Jeffers was educated at Tranquillity Girls School and went to England when she was aged 15, later taking a diploma in social science at Alexander College, north London. While in London she was involved in founding the Union of Students of African Descent, which would become known as the

League of Coloured Peoples The League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) was a British civil-rights organization that was founded in 1931 in London by Jamaican-born physician and campaigner Harold Moody with the goal of racial equality around the world, a primary focus being on bl ...

. After the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

she worked among West African troops and set up a West African soldiers' fund, mobilising financial contributions from fellow West Indians. She returned to Trinidad in 1920 and ran a junior school in her family home, Briarsend. Moved by the sufferings of the underprivileged and dispossessed, she established the

Coterie of Social Workers The Coterie of Social Workers is a women's organization, established in 1921 in Trinidad and Tobago, British West Indies to engage in empowering women as well as providing benevolent assistance to the poor and disadvantaged. It was the first organiz ...

in 1921, which provided free lunches to poor school children. The first "Breakfast Shed" was established in Port of Spain in 1926. Others were established in Barataria, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago,

Siparia Siparia is a town in southern Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago, south of San Fernando, southwest of Penal and Debe and southeast of Fyzabad. Also called "The Sand City", it was originally a non-Mission Amerindian settlement. Siparia grew to be th ...

and

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

. They went on to establish homes for the elderly, the blind, "women in distress" and day nurseries. The first day nursery, established in John John, Port of Spain, was named Cipriani House after the labour leader

Arthur Andrew Cipriani Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani (31 January 1875 – 18 April 1945) was a Trinidad and Tobago labour leader and politician. He served as mayor of Port of Spain, elected member of the Legislative Council, leader of the Trinidad Workingmen's Associa ...

. In 1936, Jeffers became the first woman elected to the Port of Spain City Council. In 1946, she was appointed to the Legislative Council by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Sir

Bede Clifford Captain Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford (3 July 1890 – 6 October 1969) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator, born in New Zealand, where his parents had moved in an unsuccessful attempt at sheep-farming. His parents were William Hug ...

. She was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1959. In 1969 she was posthumously awarded the

Chaconia Gold Medal The Chaconia Medal is the second highest state decoration of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the ...

for Social Service. Her nephew was the historian Tony Martin.

Jeffrey Green Jeffrey P. Green (born 9 October 1944)"Papers of Jeffrey Gr ...

"Slow March – Left, Right"
''BASA (Black & Asian Studies Association) Newsletter'', Diamond # 60 Issue - July 2011 # 61 November 2011.

Legacy

The

Audrey Jeffers Highway The Audrey Jeffers Highway is a highway in Trinidad and Tobago. It runs west from Downtown Port of Spain to Cocorite. The highway runs from the Hasely Crawford Stadium to the Cocorite area parallel to Mucurapo Road and the Western Main Road ...

is named in her honour. Her legacy also lives on in The Coterie of Social Workers of Trinidad and Tobago, who continue to honour her memory by celebrations and commemorations.

References

External links

Colin Laird & Audrey Jeffers House (Sweet Briar House) – Port of Spain, Trinidad.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffers, Audrey Members of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago social workers 1898 births 1968 deaths People from Port of Spain 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women politicians 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago politicians Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Life

Legacy

Further reading

References

External links