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The Rt. Hon. Sir Donald Sangster (1911 - 1967)

Name: Donald Burns Sangster
Birth: October 26, 1911
Death: April 11, 1967
Industry: Politics; Government; Prime Minister

Sir Donald was born on October 26, 1911 . He was the son of the late W. B. Sangster, Commissioned Land Surveyor of St. Elizabeth, and Mrs. Sangster. He was educated at Munro College(1921-1929) and was admitted to practise as a solicitor in Jamaica in 1937.

Donald Sangster was a versatile sportsman, participating actively in cricket, football, athletics and boxing while attending college. This interest in sports continued after he left Munro College , and at one time he was captain of the St. Elizabeth Parish team in the Nethersole Cricket Cup Competition.

He began his political career at the age of twenty-one when he campaigned and won a seat in the St. Elizabeth Parochial Board on June 22, 1933 .  He became Vice-Chairman of his Parochial Board in 1941, and Chairman in 1949.

In 1944 he made his first bid to enter national politics when as an Independent Candidate he contested the South St. Elizabeth constituency seat, and lost.  He joined the Jamaica Labour Party and subsequently won his seat in the General Elections of 1949.  His political career in national politics suffered a temporary set-back in February 1955, when his party lost the General Election and he himself lost his seat in South St.Elizabeth.  Later that year he however successfully contested a by-election for the North-East Clarendon constituency.

Sir Donald became a member of the House of Representatives since 1949 and was First Deputy Leader of the JLP in 1950.  He was Leader of the House from 1953 to 1955, and was reappointed to this post in 1962.  In June 1966, Sir Donald relinquished this post.  At the time of his death he represented the constituency of North Central Clarendon in Parliament.

He was Minister of Social Welfare from 1950 to 1953 and Minister of Finance from 1953 until 1955 when his party lost the General Elections.  In 1962 when the JLP was returned to office he was appointed Minister of Finance and subsequently Deputy Prime Minister.

He was appointed to act as Prime Minister, Minister of External Affairs and Minister of Defence in January 1965 as a result of the illness of the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Sir Alexander Bustamante.  While acting Sir Donald retained the post of Minister of Finance.  He had previously acted for a short while as Prime Minister in 1964.

Consequent on the victory of the JLP in the General Elections on February 21, 1967 , and the resignation of Sir Alexander Bustamante, he was appointed Prime Minister on February 22, 1967 , retaining at the same time the posts of Minister of Finance and Minister of Defence.

Mr. Sangster was Jamaica’s delegate to the Commonwealth Parliament Conferences in New Zealand in 1950, Ceylon in 1952, and Malaysia in 1963, and he was Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in 1964 and Chairman at its Conference, which was held in Jamaica in that year.

He was Jamaica ’s representative on the West Indies Regional Economic Committee from 1950 to 1955, and Leader of Jamaica’s delegations to the Commonwealth Economic Consultative Council Conferences in 1951, 1963-1966.  Jamaica was the host country for this conference in 1955 and Sir Donald presided.  He also led Jamaica ’s delegation to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington (1963-1966).  He had been a Governor of the World Bank and IMF since 1963.

Sir Donald was a member of Jamaica’s delegation to the Heads of Commonwealth Caribbean conference in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in 1963 and in Kingston, Jamaica in 1964.  He also led the delegation to these conferences in Georgetown, Guyana in 1965 and in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1966.  He also led Jamaica’s delegation to the Canada-Commonwealth Caribbean Countries in Ottawa in July 1966.

Mr. Sangster accompanied Sir Alexander Bustamante to the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference in London in 1962 and he attended this conference as Sir Alexander’s representative in 1964.  Sir Donald attended as Acting Prime Minister, the conferences in London in 1965, Lagos in 1966.

He was a member of the Joint Committee of Parliament, which framed the Constitution for Independent Jamaica, and he was a member of the delegation that went to England in 1962 to discuss it with the British Government.

He was appointed Chairman of the University of the West Indies Grants Committee in 1963.

Sir Donald served on a number of public boards and committees during his lifetime.  He had been a member of Manning’s Home Advisory Committee, and of the East and West St. Elizabeth School Boards.  He had been a Director of Jamaica Vegetables Ltd., from 1943 to 1949, and he also played a prominent part in the scouting activities of St. Elizabeth.  He had been a member of the Munro and Dickenson Trust, the Black River Drainage and Irrigation Board and also a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Jamaica.

After his party’s success at the 1967 General Elections and his appointment as Prime Minister, Sir Donald had just completed forming his Cabinet when he became ill.  He died on April 5, 1967.

Related Documents

  1. More sympathy messages on Sir Donald’s death. Daily Gleaner, April 29, 1967.
  2. Jamaica’s New Prime Minister. Sunday Gleaner, February 26, 1967.
  3. Ruins! Donald Sangster’s birthplace falling apart. Daily Observer, July 30, 2012.
  4. Fund launched for memorial to the Sir Donald Sangster. Daily Gleaner, May 22, 1967.
  5. On the Death of our Prime Minister. By Sylvia Wynter. Daily Gleaner, April 30, 1967, p. 4.
  6. Grenada Senate notes sympathy. Sunday Gleaner, April 23, 1967, p. 1:4.
  7. Sir Donald’s Life built on ‘uncommon equanimity’ – U.S. Secretary at Washington memorial. Sunday Gleaner, April 23, 1967. Donald
  8. Sangster goes to final sleep. Daily Gleaner, April 12, 1967.
  9. A pictorial depicting the life and times of the late…Sir Donald Burns Sangster. The Gleaner, July 13, 2000.
  10. Beneath the green willows they buried a nations’s hero. Daily Gleaner, April 18, 1967.
  11. List of mourners at Sir Donald’s Funeral. Daily Gleaner, April 18, 1967.
  12. The life and death of Sir Donald. Daily Gleaner, April 12, 1967, p. 22.
  13. Congratulatory messages pour in to new PM. Daily Gleaner. April 1967.
  14. He was Jamaica’s man of Foreign Affairs. By The Foreign Desk. Daily Gleaner, April 12, 1967, p. 14.
  15. Donald Sangster Ja’s shortest-serving PM. Sunday Gleaner, September 3, 2007.
  16. Sir Donald Sangster, 1911- 1967. The Gleaner, August 2, 2004, C3.
  17. A long record of service in Jamaican politics. By… A Political Reporter. Daily Gleaner, April 12, 1967, p. 14.
  18. Lives of the Prime Ministers: Sir Donald Burns Sangster. Illustrated by Cemel Associates Ltd. London.
  19. In Memoriam: Sir Donald Sangster. Daily Gleaner, April 21, 1961, p. 18 7-9.
  20. Jamaica pays homage to Sir Donald. Sunday Gleaner, April 16, 1967.
  21. Sangster Political man of the Year. Sunday Gleaner, December 30, 1962, p. 6.
  22. The Remembrance: Sir Donald Burns Sangster. Daily Gleaner, April 18, 1967, p. 12; 5-9.
  23. Sir Donald Sangster memorial stamp. Daily Gleaner, August 17, 1967, p. 3.
  24. MacDonald heads Sangster Fund team. Daily Gleaner, April 28, 1967, p. 1.
  25. ‘I am the resurrection and the life…’ Daily Gleaner, April 18, 1967, p. 1:9 & 2: 7.
  26. Final farewell said in Montreal. Daily Gleaner, April 13, 1967, p. 1.
  27. Sangster’s funeral committee. Daily Gleaner, April 13, 1967, p. 2.
  28. 5 memorials will honour Sir Donald. Daily Gleaner, April 19, 1967, p. 1: 3-5 & 8:6.
  29. Sangster – Political man of the year. By The Political Reporter. Sunday Gleaner, December 25, 1955.
  30. Sangster, Sir Donald Burns. Bust by Curtis Johnston.
  31. Donald Sangster – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
  32. Sir Donald Burns Sangster, 1911-1967. Facts on Jamaica, No. 18.
  33. His Own Man. Time, March 3, 1967.