William Wellington Wellwood Grant OD (1894 – 27 August 1977) was a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n labour activist. He was known as "St. William Grant", "St." presumably meaning "Sergeant" in reference to his military or UNIA service. He is regarded as the person who started the struggle of the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

in Jamaica. Understanding that as an uneducated

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

man he would never win the respect of the Colonial Government, he entrusted

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Early life and education He was ...

with the responsibility of taking the struggles of the working class to the next level.

Early life

Grant was born at Brandon Hill in rural

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

. He attended St Phillips Church School in St Andrew and West Branch Elementary School in Kingston. As a young man he became a

dockworker A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number ...

in Kingston. With the advent of

World War I 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 ...

he stowed away on a British

troop ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

, subsequently joining the Eleventh British West India Regiment. After the war he returned briefly to Jamaica before emigrating to New York in 1920. There he worked as a cook in restaurants while involved with the Tiger division of the

Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) is a black nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican immigrant to the United States, and Amy Ashwood Garvey. The Pan-African ...

(UNIA).

Activism

In 1934 he served as a delegate to the UNIA convention in Jamaica, where he was expelled from UNIA by

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

himself for "misrepresenting the aims and objectives of the organisation". Remaining in Jamaica, Grant continued both to earn his living as a cook and participate in activism, this time as a labour leader. In May 1938 the

s of the

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...

were on strike. Bustamante and Grant were known as orators promoting and directing the strike. Both were arrested on 24 May, and remanded in custody by a police inspector. While Bustamante submitted to arrest, St. William Grant protested and was badly beaten. Both were charged with inciting unlawful assembly and obstructing the police, were refused bail and as a form of humiliation were stripped down to their underwear. The events led to further strikes and riots, until Bustamante and Grant were freed by a court on 28 May.Dr. Rebecca Tortello
"The Founding of The BITU & The JLP"
'' Jamaica Gleaner'', 9 September 2002. According to Dr Orville Taylor, a senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies, "had it not been for St. William Grant, history might not have known Bustamante". Grant had a falling out with Bustamante and never became part of the Jamaica Labour Party. In 1947 he contested the West Kingston division for the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local go ...

in the first Municipal (KSAC) elections after adult suffrage and was beaten by more than 2 to 1. He never resurfaced in any other political contest. However, in 1950 Bustamante recommended that Grant be appointed watchman at the central Housing Authority (later the Ministry of Housing) in which post he remained until his death. Robert A Hill (ed.)
''Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: November 1927-August 1940''
vol. 7, 1992, .

Honours

Grant was awarded the Order of Distinction on National Heroes Day, 1974. Following this, the UNIA organised a special tribute for him on 21 December 1974. He was given a state funeral on 5 September 1977.

St. William Grant Park

The St. William Grant Park in the centre of downtown Kingston, Jamaica is named in honour of William Grant.Jamaica National Heritage Trust
/ref> It was previously called Victoria Park in honour of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, being renamed shortly after Grant's death. Statues in the park include Queen

Victoria of the United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

Norman Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate ...

Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe, (30 January 1785 – 5 September 1846), known as Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt between 1822 and 1845, was a British colonial administrator. He held appointments including acting Governor-General o ...

and Edward Jordan, the first black Mayor of the City of Kingston (1854-1866).Understanding Jamaica: A Cultural Perspective
Lee R. Duffus

References

External links

Aerial view of St. William Grant Park
*Photos

(Grant is 2nd from left). *Grant is mentioned in Richard Smith
''Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War: Race, Masculinity and the Development of National Consciousness''
Manchester University Press, 2004, . *Grant is mentioned in Richard Hart (Jamaican historian and politician), Richard Hart
''Labour Rebellions of the 1930s in the British Caribbean Region Colonies''
Socialist History Society, 2002, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, William Jamaican activists Jamaican trade unionists People from Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica Recipients of the Order of Distinction 1894 births 1977 deaths