Cecil Rawle (27 March 1891 – 9 June 1938)Gabriel Christian

Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences, May 2011. . was a Dominican barrister, activist and father of Pan-Caribbeanism, who is honoured as Dominica's first national hero."Cecil Rawle"
, Caribbean History, ItzCaribbean.com.

Biography

Rawle was born in

Roseau Roseau (Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau Ri ...

, Dominica, where his

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 ...

parents, William Alexander Romilly Rawle and Elsie Elizabeth Sophia Garrett, had moved; his father was head of the local branch of the West India and Panama Telegraph Company, the precursor of Cable and Wireless."Rawle, Cecil, Edgar, Allan (1891-1938)"
A to Z of Dominica Heritage, LennoxHonychurch.com. . Rawle attended

Dominica Grammar School The Dominica Grammar School (DGS) is a public co-education secondary school in Roseau, Dominica, established in 1893, one of the oldest educational institutions on the island. Contrary to its name, the school no longer functions as a tradition ...

and

Codrington College Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in St. John, Barbados now affiliated with the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. It is one of the oldest Anglican theological colleges in the Americas. It was affiliated to the Un ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

. He subsequently moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he went on to graduate as a barrister at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in 1913. He practised law in Grenada and Trinidad, before he returned to Dominica and went on to found the Dominica Representative Government Association. In 1924 a new constitution was granted and Rawle was elected to represent Roseau in the elections the following year. He was an avid campaigner and activist in the political arena in Dominica. In addition to practising law, Rawle owned the ''

Dominica Tribune Newspaper Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

'', which in 1924 he incorporated with th
''Dominica Guardian''
In 1932 he chaired the Dominica Conference,"West Indies: Conference"
''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

'', January 1933, p. 19. which became known as The West Indies Conference, at which there were representatives from Trinidad, Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Antigua, St. Kitts and Grenada. The first regional meeting to be initiated by Caribbean leaders to discuss the future of the region, it led the way for the

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that ...

. In his final address, Rawle stated:

"We suggest that there should be a Governor General of the whole of the West Indies who in the exercise of the powers and authorities entrusted to him must act upon the advice of the Federal Executive Council....the Federal Assembly will from its own membership select for the Governor his advisers. The most radical change of all perhaps, is the proposal that the Governor General and in similar manner the Officers administering the Island Governments shall not have the power to disregard the advice of their Executive Councils. In Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and even little Malta, the officers administering the Government act upon the advice of their Executive Councils. Why should the peoples of the West Indies continue to be burdened with executives irresponsible to the Legislature?"

In 1937, Rawle was appointed Attorney General of the Leeward Islands and moved to Antigua, where he died suddenly the following year, at the age of 47.

References

External links

Cecil Rawle on itzcaribbean

Cecil Rawle - Dominica Heritage
* Gabriel J. Christian

Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences.
''The Dominica Guardian'' issues from 1893 to 1924
available freely and fully as Open Access in the

Digital Library of the Caribbean The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is an international digital library operated collaboratively by the contributing partners. Partners Current partners continue to grow on a regular basis and are listed on thdLOC Partner Page Partners in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawle, Cecil 1891 births 1937 deaths Dominica politicians Dominica people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Attorneys General of the Leeward Islands Dominica lawyers 20th-century lawyers People from Roseau