Jamaica National Heroes 

Jamaica National Heroes

Jamaica National Heroes: Jamaica has 7 National Heroes on record. The Order of National Hero is the most senior order of Jamaica. The honour of this Order  may be awarded to any person who was born in Jamaica, or at the time of death was, a citizen of Jamaica and rendered to Jamaica service of a most distinguished nature....

They are properly addressed as “The Rt Excellent” and the motto of the Jamaica Order is “He built a city which hath foundations”.

Insignia of the Order of National Hero Jamaica

Jamaica National Heroes 

When Alexander Bustamante began to make his presence felt in Jamaica, the country was still a Crown Colony. Under this system, the then colonial Governor Denham had, the right to veto at all times, which he very often exercised against the wishes of the majority.

Norman Washington Manley was born at Roxborough, in the parish of Manchester on July 4, 1893. He was a brilliant scholar and athlete; soldier (First World War) and a lawyer.    He identified himself with the cause of the workers at the time of the labour struggles of 1938 and donated time and advocacy to the cause...

Nanny (circa 1600s – circa 1750s) Nanny was a leader of the Westward Maroons at the beginning of the 18th century. She was known by both the Maroons and the British settlers as an outstanding military leader who became, in her lifetime and after, a symbol of unity and strength for her people during times of crisis...

Samuel Sharpe (1700s – May 23, 1832)  was said to be the main instigator of the 1831 Slave Rebellion, which began on the Kensington Estate in St. James and which was largely instrumental in bringing about the abolition of slavery...

Jamaica National Heroes 

George William Gordon (circa 1820s -October 23, 1865) was self-educated and a landowner and a politician in the parish of St. Thomas.  Born to a slave mother and a planter father who was attorney-at-law to several sugar estates in Jamaica...

Paul Bogle  (circa 1822- October 24, 1865)  it is believed, was born free about 1822.  He was a Baptist Deacon in Stony Gut St Thomas, a few miles north of Morant Bay, and was eligible to vote at a time when there were only 104 voters in the parish of St. Thomas.  He was a firm political supporter of George William Gordon...

Marcus Mosiah Garvey(August 17, 1887 – June 10, 1940) - Jamaica's first National Hero was born in St. Ann’s Bay, St. Ann, on August 17, 1887. In his youth Garvey migrated to Kingston, where he worked as a printer and later published a small paper “The Watchman”.

Source: courtesy of www.jis.gov.jm 

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