Henry Sylvester Williams, Trinidadian Lawyer and Father of Pan Africanism

Dear Members and Friends:

Kindly take the time to read about Trinidadian lawyer, Henry Sylvester Williams (1869-1911).  His many accomplishments during this period of time are quite remarkable and interesting.

The date and place of his birth is uncertain. Some say he was born in 1869 in Arouca, Trinidad, others say he was born in Barbados in 1867 and travelled to Trinidad with his parents as a young child.  He was the eldest son of Elizabeth and Henry Bishop Williams, a wheelwright from Barbados.  He grew up in Arouca, a village where the majority of residents were of African descent and attended the Arouca School, which was run by a Chinese Trinidadian known as Stoney Smith.

At age 17, Williams became a teacher at San Fernando Government School, with a Class III Certification.  He was one of only three teachers with certificates in that year.  A year later he was the only certified teacher at the school in Canaan, San Fernando; and the following year he was transferred to San Juan, where he remained until he left Trinidad in 1891.  He also taught singing and played the piano regularly.

There was in Trinidad, at that time, a highly educated, race-conscious group of black men and in January 1890, Williams was a founding member of the Trinidad Elementary Teachers Union.  He urged the teachers to act as professionals and reminded them that Trinidad is a free country, even if it is a British Colony.

In 1891, Williams went to New York City, but could only get work shining shoes.  He moved in 1893 to Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to study for a law degree.  While living in Canada, Henry became a co-founder of the pioneering Coloured Hockey League (1895-1936), featuring teams from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

In 1895, he went to London and entered King's College.  In his book on the life of Williams, Owen Mathurin notes: "Williams was not as fortunate as some of his fellow Trinidadians who had come to study for professions at the expense of wealthy parents or as young winners of a government scholarship who received singular remittances.”  It was therefore not until 1897, he enrolled as a student of Gray's Inn to read for the bar.  He satisfied the entrance requirements by passing a preliminary examination in Latin, English and History.

In 1897, Williams formed the African Association (later called the Pan-African Association).  He met Mrs. A. V. Kinloch who was touring Britain on behalf of the Aborigines' Protection Society (APS), speaking in particular about South Africa. The meeting of these minds resulted in the formation of the African Association.  Stating that "the time has come when the voice of Black men should be heard independently in their own affairs", Williams gave his first address as honorary general secretary in the common-room at Gray's Inn, and Kinloch was the association's first treasurer.

Some English people felt the Association would not last three months but by 1900 Williams was ready to hold the first Pan-African Conference.  The three-day gathering took place at Westminster Town Hall on July 23, 24, and 25, with delegates comprising "men and women of African descent" from West and South Africa, the West Indies, the United States and Liberia.  W. E. B. Du Bois, who was to become the movement's torchbearer at subsequent Pan-African Congresses, was a participant and his Address to the Nations with its prophetic statement "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour-line" came to be regarded as the defining statement of the conference.

After this Williams set about spreading the word and he embarked on lecture tours to set up branches in Jamaica, Trinidad and the United States.  On June 28, 1901, the Trinidad branch of the Pan African Association was formed, with branches in Naparima, Sangre Grande, Arima, Manzanilla, Tunapuna, Arouca and Chaguanas.

On his return to London he finished his bar exams and, like Mahatma Gandhi, went on to practice in South Africa, from 1903 to 1905.  Williams was the first black man to be admitted to the bar in the Cape Colony, on 29 October 1903.  He knew that non-whites were badly treated, but still he took this step.  He was soon agitating for the rights of blacks.  He also presided over the opening of a coloured preparatory school staffed by West Indians.  He was eventually boycotted by the Cape Law Society for it was felt he was "preaching seditious doctrines to the natives against the white man".

In November 1906, Williams was among the first people of African descent to be elected to public office in Britain.  He became involved in municipal politics and won a seat as a Progressive on Marylebone Borough Council.

In 1908 he returned to Trinidad, where he rejoined the bar and practiced until his death four years later.  Williams died on 26 March 1911, at the age of 42. He was buried at Lapeyrouse Cemetery, Port of Spain.

His Legacy

The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, held a conference on "Henry Sylvester Williams and Pan-Africanism: A Retrospection and Projection" on 7–12 January 2001.

A memorial plaque on the site of his former London home at 38 Church Street, Marylebone, was unveiled on 12 October 2007.

Williams was named 16th on a recent list of the "100 Great Black Britons".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Sylvester_Williams

biography.yourdictionary.com/henry-sylvester-williams

Claudia and Angela

on behalf of the IMC, TTADC