by The Professor » Wed Sep 21, 2016 7:42 am
On this day in 1901 West Indian cricketer and politician Learie Constantine was born.
Learie Constantine, the Nelson cricketer, born in Diego Martin in Trinidad and Tobago. He worked in a solicitor's office before beginning his career in cricket.
A dashing all-rounder Constantine, at his peak, was a mercurial bowler of genuine pace, an athletic fielder and a flashing stroke player capable of tearing any attack to shreds on his day.
He made his debut while touring England in 1928. The following year Constantine moved to England and joined the Nelson team in the Lancashire Cricket League. In the days before West Indians were seen in County Cricket, Constantine became a legend in the highly competitive Lancashire leagues where his deeds and demeanour are remembered to this day.
Against England in 1930, Constantine bowled West Indies to their first win in a Test match.
In 1933 he published his first book 'Cricket and I' wiith his friend CLR James. He went on to play an important role for West Indies, winning the series against England.
He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1940.
During World War Two Constantine worked as a welfare officer for the Ministry of Labourbased in Liverpool. His main responsibility was to help West Indian immigrants find employment and accommodation in Britain.
In 1943 he travelled to London to play for the Dominions team against an England XI at Lord's. He and his family had a reservation to stay at the Imperial Hotel in Russell Square, London. He was reassured that he and his family were welcomed and would be treated with the utmost respect. This was not the case. When they arrive at the Imperial Hotel, they were informed they could stay one night and no more on account of complaints about their presence made by white US servicemen who were also staying at the hotel. They were treated as outcasts and Constantine was outraged. Constantine brought a civil action against the hotel for breach of contract. The judge who heard the case was sympathetic to Constantine and his family, accepting the evidence brought by Constantine and his legal team. He rejected the evidence of the Imperial Hotel that they showed no discrimination based on Constantine's skin colour. Constantine was awarded £5000 in damages however the ruling did not end the colour bar in British hotels and other public establishments. Constantine later wrote 'Colour Bar' in 1954. The book dealt with racial prejudice in Britain.
Constantine and his wife, Norma, whom he had married in Trinidad in 1927 moved to London in 1949 where he made a living as a journalist and broadcaster while studying law. He gained entrance to the English Bar in 1954.
Later he returned to Trinidad and Tobago where he became involved in politics. A member of the People's National Movement, he was elected to the Legislative Council after winning a seat in the 1956 elections. He served in the government as Minister of Communications, Works and Public Utilities. When the country gained independence in 1962, he became his country's first High Commissioner in London he was knighted in the same year.
In 1964 he resigned but stayed in Britain where he held several important positions; this included being a governor of the BBC and a member of the Race Relations Board and the Sports Council.
In 1967 he was elected Rector of the University of Saint Andrews and in 1969 he became the first person of African descent to be given a life peerage, being created Baron Constantine of Marbel in Trinidad and Tobago and Nelson in the county of Lancaster.
Constantine died of bronchitis in Hampstead, London on the 1st of July 1971.
"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."