Ebenezer Theodore Joshua (23 May 1908 – 14 March 1991) was a Vincentian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of Saint Vincent from 1960 to 1967. He was the Leader of the Legislative Council from 1956 to 1961.

Early life and career

Joshua was born in

Kingstown Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centre ...

, Saint Vincent,

British Windward Islands The British Windward Islands was an administrative grouping of British colonies in the Windward Islands of the West Indies, existing from 1833 until 31 December 1959 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, St Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenad ...

. As a young man in the 1920s, he went to work on the nearby island of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. There he became involved in trade unionism with Buzz Butler, and was an official of the

Oilfields Workers' Trade Union The Oilfields Workers' Trade Union or OWTU is one of the most powerful trade unions in Trinidad and Tobago. Currently led by Ancel Roget, the union was born out of the 1937 labour riots, the union was nominally led by the imprisoned TUB Butl ...

from 1938 until 1950, when he tried unsuccessfully to be elected to the Trinidad legislature. Returning to Saint Vincent, Joshua entered

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, and was elected to the island's

assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

in 1951 as a member of the

Eighth Army of Liberation The Eighth Army of Liberation was a political party in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which ...

. In 1952 he and his wife Ivy Joshua founded the People's Political Party (PPP) as the political arm of the Federated Industrial Allied Workers Union (FIAWU), a trade union organization aimed at representing agricultural and shipyard workers. The party was staunchly against colonialism and the plantocracy.

Politics

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, Ebenezer and Ivy became the first married couple to be elected to a parliament of the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

. In 1961, upon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gaining increased autonomy, Joshua became chief minister. He held the additional portfolio of

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. His PPP saw continued success in subsequent elections. Joshua supported the unsuccessful

Federation of the West Indies A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing ...

. In 1962 Joshua discontinued government subsidies for the sugar growers, leading the Mt Bentinck Sugar Cane Factory to close after years of financial mismanagement. He then travelled to

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). ...

for a regional meeting on agricultural problems; a misunderstanding of this sequence of events and Vincentian history by American musician

Eric von Schmidt Eric Von Schmidt (May 28, 1931 – February 2, 2007) was an American singer and guitarist, songwriter, painter and illustrator, and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s and a key part o ...

became the basis for the song "Joshua Gone Barbados". In 1967 the PPP lost their parliamentary majority and Joshua was succeeded by Robert Milton Cato, leader of the

Saint Vincent Labour Party The Saint Vincent Labour Party was a social democratic political party in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 1955 to 1994. It was the ruling party from 1967 to 1972 and again from 1974 until 1984. History The party was established in 1955. Nohl ...

. After the 1972 elections, Joshua was appointed

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the cabinet of

James Fitz-Allen Mitchell Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell (15 May 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a Vincentian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 1984 to 2000 and as the second Premier of Saint Vincent from 1972 to ...

. He resigned in 1974. Joshua remained in parliament, but the PPP began to decline as the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

emerged as political competition. In 1979 the PPP lost all parliamentary representation. Joshua resigned as party leader in 1980, and the party was dissolved in 1984.

Personal life

In 1980, Joshua became a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). He served for a time in the presidency of the LDS Church's Kingstown Branch, then the only congregation of the church in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Death and legacy

Joshua died in Kingstown, Saint Vincent, on 14 March 1991. The Arnos Vale Airport was renamed as the E. T. Joshua Airport in his honour. After the closure of this airport in 2017, the former passenger terminal building was renovated and now houses a shopping plaza known as The Joshua Centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua, Ebenezer 1908 births 1991 deaths People from Kingstown Converts to Mormonism Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Latter Day Saints Finance ministers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Ministers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines People's Political Party (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) politicians Black Mormons British Saint Vincent and the Grenadines people Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriates in Trinidad and Tobago