Lady Bustamante Turns 97 Tomorrow, International Women’s Day

Sunday, March 8,2009, is not only International Women’s Day, but it will also mark the 97th birthday of Lady Bustamante, the only living widow of a Jamaican national hero.
Lady “B” has already surpassed the late Sir Alexander’s 93 years and, as she closes in on her centenary, can rightly be called the “grand old lady of Jamaican politics.”
Affectionately called ‘Lady B’, she is the widow of National Hero, the Rt. Excellent Sir Alexander Bustamante, founder of both the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), as well as the first Prime Minister of independent Jamaica in 1962.
Although not active these days, Lady B is still Honorary Treasurer of the BITU. and gives thanks to God for her long life.
“I thank God for sparing my life,” she says.In her book, ‘The Memoirs of Lady Bustamante’, she speaks glowingly of working quietly behind the scenes and beside her late husband.
Born Gladys Longbridge in 1912, she hails from Parson Reid, near Ashton in Westmorland. In her book, Lady Bustamante says she was a “welcome baby,” even though she was born out of wedlock.
“Being born out of wedlock was not a major issue in rural Jamaica then,” she writes.
Lady Bustamante studied commercial subjects at Tutorial College in Kingston and worked as secretary for Sir Alexander, a man she admired due to his concern for the poor.
“I took up my job with pride and great expectations of becoming involved more with people than with paper and pencil,” she wrote.
She was a private secretary to Mr. Bustamante from 1936, when he was a businessman, then a trade unionist and then a politician, including the period of his arrest and detention at Up Park Camp from 1940-1942 for leading the 1938 labour rebellion and later as Chief Minister, and became Jamaica’s First lady when “Busta” became Prime Minister in 1962.
“I was privileged to stand with Alexander Bustamante, behind him first and beside him ever after,” she says.
When Sir Alexander passed away on August 6, 1977, Lady Bustamante says she “was paralyzed with grief.” She, however, forced herself to stay active, still continuing to serve as Treasurer of the BITU.
She has lent her support to many causes, including her beloved Bustamante Hospital for Children, of which she is Patron, as well as the new Bustamante Museum which is housed at their former home, Tucker Avenue, Kingston 3.
Many persons who know Lady Bustamante describe her as a humble, modest figure. She did social work islandwide, particularly among port workers and their families, in sugar communities and among children of destitute parents. She was also actively engaged with work at a number of voluntary and charitable institutions.