He was born William Alexander Clarke to an Irish planter and an African mother but took the name Bustamante from an Iberian sea captain who befriended him in his youth.

After travelling the world and making his fortune in the United States he returned to Jamaica in 1932 and became a leader of the struggle against colonial rule.

He was imprisoned for subversive activities in 1940 however the anti-colonial effort resulted in the granting of universal suffrage to Jamaica. Upon his release, in 1943, he founded the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and the Jamaican Labour Party which won 22 of 32 seats in the colonial assembly making Bustamante the unofficial government leader until the position of Chief Minister was created in 1953. He held this position until the JLP was defeated in 1955.

Bustamante opposed the creation of the Federation of the West Indies and agitated for Jamaica's status as an independent state.

Jamaica was granted independence in 1962 and Bustamante served as the independent country's first Prime Minister until 1967. His cousin, Norman Manley, founded the JLP's chief rival, the People's National Party.

External link

• Sir Alexander Bustamante biography