Jamaica
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George William Gordon
Cherry Garden (Saint Andrew), Jamaica
Archival Overview
National Hero of Jamaica, wealthy mixed-race landowner, and elected member of the Jamaican House of Assembly who sacrificed his life defending the human and economic rights of the Black peasant majority.
Biographical Record
George William Gordon (c. 1820–1865) was the son of a Scottish planter and an enslaved Black woman. Self-educated in business, he became a wealthy merchant and landowner, subdividing his estates to sell land cheaply to freed slaves and establishing Native Baptist chapels.
As an elected legislator in the Assembly, Gordon fiercely denounced Governor Edward John Eyre's tyrannical taxation and contempt for Black poverty. Following the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion, Eyre illegally arrested Gordon in Kingston, transported him outside civil jurisdiction to Morant Bay, and had him executed by martial court; Gordon is revered as a martyr of Jamaican freedom.
Key Life Milestones
Championing Black Peasant Rights in Parliament
Fought in the Jamaican Assembly against repressive taxes on clothing and food for the poor.
Proclaimed National Hero of Jamaica
Bestowed the nation's highest posthumous honor for his supreme sacrifice for civil rights.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialKingston, Jamaica