Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives
Notable Contributions & Achievements

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Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Lady Bustamante (Photo: Jamaica Information Service)

by Sheree-Anita Shearer | Associate Writer

Our prime ministers have all contributed to Jamaica in some way. However, their spouses have also done a fair share not only in support of their political endeavours but on their own quest to contribute to our country.

Lady Bustamante (Lady B) (March 1912- July 2009)

Before she was Lady Bustamante, she was Gladys Maud Longbridge of Parson Reid, Westmoreland. She did her primary schooling at the Ashton Primary school before moving to Kingston with her aunt for high school at the Tutorial Secondary and Commercial College.

After completing her schooling she returned to her childhood community to render assistance to the education system there but moved to Montego Bay not long after where she worked at Havana Sports.

After a while, she moved back to Kingston and began working at the Arlington House Hotel and Restaurant. This is where she would meet Sir Alexander Bustamante who hired her as his private secretary for his business endeavours. She would carry these duties over to his political career. She and Sir Alexander Bustamante married on 7th September 1962.

She continued to play an active role in social service to destitute children and poor families in sugar communities as well as the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union.

Awards and Accolades

• 1979: Golden Orchid Award from the Venezuelan Government in recognition of dedication to Sir Alexander Bustamante’s ideals
• 1982: Order of Jamaica
• 1984: Gleaner Company’s Special Merit Award for Outstanding Service to the Nation
• 1984: Patron of Bustamante Hospital for Children
• 1985: Trophy in Recognition of “Widow Exemplary Family Life” by Harmony in the Homes Movement
• 1976 – 1986: Plaque for Outstanding Public Service to Jamaica to mark the end of the United Nations Decade of Women
• Long Service Award from Bustamante Hospital for Children for 21 years of Service.
• Citation from Young Jamaica in honour of supporting role to National hero, Sir Alexander Bustamante.
• 1988: The Proclamation for the City of Opa Locka, Florida for determination and commitment to the betterment of humankind, declared “Lady Bustamante Day” on December 10, 1988.
• 1988: Outstanding Achievement from Metropolitan Dade County, Florida
• 1988: Plaque of Recognition for Work and Dedication from Friends of the Poor Incorporated, Florida
• 1988: Woman’s Inc.’s Celebration of Womanhood Award
• 1990: Certificate of Recognition of National Day of Jamaica

Lady Bustamante continued in her capacities within the JLP, BITU, Bustamante Hospital for Children and the various charities after Sir Alexander Bustamante’s death in 1977. She died in 2009 at 97 years old.

Edna Manley

Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Edna Manley (Photo: Jamaica Information Service)

Though The Rt. Excellent Norman Manley was not a Prime Minister of Jamaica, he was Jamaica’s first Premier. His wife Edna Manley contributed significantly to the arts and became a historical figure in the Arts. She was a founding member of what is now known as the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts known then as the Jamaica School of Art.

Mrs. Manley received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of West Indies, as well as the Order of Merit at the 1980 exhibition held at the National Gallery for her service and contribution to the Arts.

Mitsy Seaga

Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Mitsy Seaga (Photo: Jamaica Observer)

Marie Elizabeth Constantine was born in 1943 and had a pretty standard life. A native of Portland, she attended Knox College before moving to Kingston. Here she joined the first 40 girls to attend the Queen’s College in Kingston. Mitsy would join her mother for work at the Carib Theatre which would actually be the reason she was catapulted to popularity in 1962.

First, she was encouraged to represent the Carib Theatre in a pageant, which she won. This led to her entering and winning the City of Kingston pageant as well.

In 1964, she won the Miss Jamaica pageant which meant she should have represented Jamaica at the Miss World pageant that year. However, Erica Cooke went instead after Mitsy decided against entering the competition.

It was through these public events of which Mr. Seaga was often a patron that the two met.

Mitsy was encouraged by Mr Seaga to work in media as a News Presenter at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) and she did for a year.

When they wed, the new Mrs. Seaga went in a different direction than the usual direct political or political adjacent route of the Prime Minister’s spouses. She instead focussed on providing proper state care for neglected and abandoned children. She also sought to create programmes which would benefit underqualified Jamaicans at the time.

The SOS Children's Village in Stony Hill was established by Mrs Seaga and is considered a great achievement. Another such achievement is the founding of the HEART School of Cosmetology.

Marie Constantine and Mr. Seaga divorced in the 1990s after 3 decades of marriage and 3 children.

Beverley Manley-Duncan

Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Beverley Manley-Duncan

Born Beverley Anderson, Beverley Manley-Duncan was a leading activist in the struggle for women's and children's rights particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. When she and Michael Manley married in 1972, it was her first and his fourth.

Being married from 1972 to 1993, she was with Manley throughout his time as Prime Minister of Jamaica and was herself an instrumental part of the party.

Beverley Manley-Duncan was a member of the PNP’s women's movement and was its president in 1979.

She was a forthright advocate for women’s and children’s rights, which is believed to have aided Michael Manley’s laws relating to these two issues as it was under Manley's leadership that women were given maternity leave, and equal pay and children born outside of wedlock were legitimised.

Accolades and Achievements

• 1975: Jamaica's patron at the International Women's Year Conference that year.
• 1986: Doctor of Philosophy (Howard University)
• 1992: Co-created “The Breakfast Club alongside Eric Anthony Abrahams

Beverley Manley and Michael Manley divorced in 1993 and would both remarry. Beverley Manley is also a lecturer at the University of the West Indies.

Also an established author, Mrs. Manley-Duncan wrote the “Manley Memoirs” which gave insight into her life including her childhood and her marriage to Michael Manley.

Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer

Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Prof. Denise Eldemire Shearer

Denise Eldemire is no stranger to politics, her father having been a politician himself. She was not very involved in politics, the medical doctor is a champion of the needs of the elderly in Jamaica.

She is currently the island’s ageing expert and has dedicated many decades to engaging, researching, listening, working and developing policy on the behalf of Jamaicans heading to or at retirement age and beyond.

For her unwavering service to the aged in Jamaica and the Caribbean, she was presented with the Distinguished Mentorship Award by the Behavioural and Social Sciences Section of the Gerontological Society of America.

As a senior lecturer in the department of Community Health and Psychiatry, She lectures both at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels looking at ageing issues.

It is unclear when The Most Honourable Hugh Lawson Shearer married Professor Eldemire but they remained together until the former prime minister died in 2004.

Lorna Golding

Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Lorna Golding

Also, no stranger to politics, Lorna Golding (nee Charles) is the brother of Pearnel Charles, also a prominent politician and JLP figure. She was a student at the New York Business Institute before moving on to work at the office of British and Africa Affairs and the United Kingdom and Supply delegation, a subsidiary of the British Consulate.

She also worked for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) and with the Sierra Leone Mission to the United Nations.

In Jamaica, she worked closely with the education system, with a direct emphasis on early childhood education.

She married Bruce Golding in 1972 and the pair share three children together.

Juliet Holness

Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Juliet Holness

Born and raised in St. Catherine, much like Prime Minister Andrew Holness, it was at the St. Catherine High School during the 80s where the pair met. Holness would go on to enter representational politics and Mrs. Holness would become an accountant, author, real estate developer and motivational speaker.

The pair would marry in 1997, a union that produced two sons.

Mrs. Holness would join representational politics herself in 2016 and was elected as a member of parliament of St. Andrew East Rural. She was again elected for a second term in 2020 and was a part of the historical number of women elected as members of parliament, the most in Jamaica’s history.

Mrs. Holness also currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the House of Parliament

Whether these women have served directly through politics or other fields they have all contributed to the nation that is Jamaica, the land we love.

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References & Sources For Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives

1. Bbc.co.uk. 2022. BBCCaribbean.com | Tributes to Lady B. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].
2. En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Lorna Golding - Wikipedia. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].
3. Jamaica Observer. 2022. Miss Jamaica was a confidence builder for Mitsy Seaga. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].
4. Jamaica-gleaner.com. 2022. Prof Denise Eldemire-Shearer championing the cause of seniors. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].
5. Jamaica-gleaner.com. 2022. Prof Denise Eldemire-Shearer championing the cause of seniors. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].
6. Jamaica-gleaner.com. 2022. 10 things you didn't know about Mitsy Seaga. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].
7. Mona.uwi.edu. 2022. Dr. Denise Eldemire-Shearer | Marketing and Communications Office, The University of West Indies at Mona. [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].
8. The National Library of Jamaica. 2022. The Honourable Gladys Maud Bustamante O.J., J.P. (1912- 2009). [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 August 2022].

Jamaican Prime Ministers Wives | Written: August 26, 2022

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