Cooke, Howard

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Cooke, Howard

November 13, 1915

Howard Felix Hanlan Cooke was born in the aptly named town of Goodwill, Saint James Parish, Jamaica, where he began a lifelong dedication to the freedom and welfare of his country. Cooke's commitment reached its peak in 1991, when he was appointed governor-general of Jamaica by Queen Elizabeth II.

Cooke was raised by his parents, David and Mary, in Goodwill, where he played cricket and football as a young man. After both public and private schooling, he attended Mico College in Kingston, where he earned his teaching certificate. After graduation, Cooke remained at Mico as a teacher until 1938. He also married, joined a teachers' union, and became involved in politics at a time when many Jamaicans were unhappy with British rule. Particularly hard hit by economic woes, the country was rocked by rampant unemployment and rioting. Those favoring change established political parties affiliated with labor unions, and Cooke was a founding member of the People's National Party (PNP), which allied itself with the National Workers Union (the PNP's rival, the Jamaica Labour Party [JLP], was aligned with the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union). The British, who had been in control of the country since 1655, responded to the growing unrest by allowing Jamaicans to hold elections in 1944 under the system of universal adult suffrage. Although the PNP did not gain much of the country's newfound political power, it would wrestle control of the island's government from the JLP in 1955.

Cooke continued teaching while he pursued his political activities, serving as headmaster at Montego Bay Boys' School, Port Antonio Upper School, and Belle Castle All-Age School in the 1950s. In 1958, when Jamaica and its neighboring islands formed the West Indies Federation (WIF), Cooke served as a representative from the parish of Saint James. In 1961, however, Jamaica withdrew from the federation, followed by Trinidad and Tobago. The move triggered action by the British, who granted Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago their independence. On August 6, 1962 Jamaica became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth. Cooke, as a prominent PNP member, became one of Jamaica's twenty-one newly appointed senators, serving until his election to Parliament in 1967.

As a member of Parliament, Cooke was appointed a minister of government in 1972, when the PNP gained control of the House, the Senate, and the office of prime minister. Over the next eight years Cooke headed the Pension, Labour, and Education ministries, instituting a number of reforms and initiatives and gaining the respect of his people. In 1978 he was named a Commander of the Order of Distinction, and he was given a commendation for distinguished service by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in 1980. Cooke served as president of the Senate for two years (1989–1991) and was elected to the executive board of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

After completing his term as president of the Senate, Cooke was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as Jamaica's governor-general in August 1991. The following year Prime Minister Michael Manley stepped down and another PNP member, Percival James (P. J.) Patterson, was installed as his successor. In 1991 Cooke was knighted by the queen and bestowed with the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG) and the Order of the Nation (ON). He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1994.

As a longtime supporter of education and the arts, Cooke has served on the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, the Saint James Cultural Commission, and various other organizations. He has remained active in religious groups as well, serving as a senior elder and lay pastor of the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, and as a lay pastor and chairman of the Cornwall Council of Churches. In addition, Cooke was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons and received honorary doctorates from Western Carolina University and the University of the West Indies in 2003. In addition, from the 1960s through the 1990s Cooke worked in the insurance industry, holding management positions at Standard Life Insurance Company, Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Company, and American Life Insurance Company.

Bibliography

"Sir Howard Cooke." Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica. Available from <http://www.mfaft.gov.jm/Leaders/GG.htm>.

Stalker, Peter. "Jamaica." In Oxford A-Z of Countries of the World. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Stephens, John D., and Evelyne Huber Stephens. "Jamaica." In The Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World, 2d ed., edited by Joel Krieger. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2001.

nelson rhodes (2005)

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History