Country Remembers George William Gordon

Floral tributes were paid to National Hero, the Right Excellent George William Gordon, on Wednesday, December 30, at National Heroes Park in Kingston, to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of his birth.

Flowers were placed at the National Hero’s shrine by Custos Rotulorum of Kingston, Hon. Steadman Fuller, representing Governor-General, His Excellency, the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Culture, Sherrill O’Reggio Angus, representing Portfolio Minister, Hon. Lisa Hanna; and descendants of the National Hero, Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, and Executive Director, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities, Dr. Carolyn Gomes.

Principal Director of Culture and Creative Industries, Policy Division, Ministry of Youth and Culture, Dr. Janice Lindsay, said celebrating the bicentennial of the National Hero’s birth is important, as he paved the way for many of the liberties Jamaicans experience.

“When we can take the time, as a nation, to reflect and pay homage to those who have charted the path to the liberties we now enjoy, it signals an important message about the value we place on our human capital,” she said.

“The Right Excellent George William Gordon may have served an entirely different era two centuries ago; still the worth of the man is measured in how he embraced his heritage and people,” Dr. Lindsay added.

Reflecting on the life and work of the National Hero, Genealogist and Chairman, Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) Board of Trustees, Ainsley Henriques, said the Hero’s interest in politics was aimed at righting the wrongs he perceived that prevailed against the majority in those days.

“We thank you for what you have helped us become, a free and independent people and nation,” he said.

Born to a wealthy planter, Joseph Gordon, and his slave, Ann Rattray, in 1815, George William Gordon was elected to the House of Assembly in 1844, as the Representative for St. Thomas.

His advocacy of resistance against the oppressive government at the time led to his arrest as an alleged instigator in the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865.

Mr. Gordon was illegally tried by a Court Martial, found guilty on what was deemed insufficient evidence, and sentenced to death. He was subsequently executed in October 1865.

Jamaica’s Parliament building (Gordon House) is named in his honour. He was   made a National Hero in 1969.