Vivian O. Blake QC (15 March 1921 – 28 December 2000) 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 lawyer and politician. He served as president of the Jamaican Bar Association and chairman of the Bar Council's Disciplinary Committee, and became chief justice of

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

."Blake, Vivian"
Encyclopedia.com.

Biography

Vivian Osmond Scott Blake was born in St. James, Jamaica, was educated at Wolmer's Boys School in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

and studied law at

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, from 1945 to 1948. Having been called to the Jamaica Bar, he worked at the law firm run by Norman Manley. In March 1958, he was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. He was a member of the People's National Party, said to represent the party's " Glasspole tendencies", that is to say, its right wing. At a conference in 1964, he clashed with

Vernon Arnett Vernon may refer to: Places Australia *Vernon County, New South Wales Canada *Vernon, British Columbia, a city *Vernon, Ontario France *Vernon, Ardèche *Vernon, Eure United States * Vernon, Alabama * Vernon, Arizona * Vernon, California * L ...

over proposals for land reform and the party's support for

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

; Arnett's supporters blasted Blake as a "capitalist", "land baron", and "race-horse owner", while one of Blake's supporters drew a pistol. The conference quickly dispersed thereafter. In 1969, he vied with Michael Manley for leadership of the PNP; in the end, Manley achieved a decisive victory in the election to become party leader. Blake later became Jamaica's Minister of Industry and Commerce, until his resignation in July 1977, when he was succeeded by Danny Williams. He then left Jamaica and became a Justice of the

Supreme Court of the Bahamas The Supreme Court of the Bahamas is the third highest court in the adjudicative hierarchy of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The court was created by Article 93(1) of the Constitution. Before that, the Supreme Court was governed by the Supreme ...

in September 1978. He served in that position until December 1981, following which he was elevated to Chief Justice from January 1982 to September 1983. He died on 28 December 2000 at the age of 79."Vivian Blake - a distinguished advocate"
''The Jamaica Gleaner'', 30 December 2000.

References

1921 births 2000 deaths Chief justices of the Bahamas Government ministers of Jamaica Jamaican judges on the courts of the Bahamas 20th-century Jamaican lawyers People's National Party (Jamaica) politicians Jamaican Queen's Counsel Jamaican emigrants to the Bahamas Jamaican expatriates in the United Kingdom {{Jamaica-politician-stub