Person    | Male  Born 21/9/1901  Died 1/7/1971

Learie Constantine

Cricketer and politician. Born Learie Nicholas Constantine at Petit Valley, Diego Martin, near Maraval, Trinidad. As a cricketer, he toured England with the West Indies team in the 1920s and was eventually awarded a contract with the Lancashire League club, Nelson. During WW2 he worked for the Ministry of Labour and National Service with responsibility for West Indians employed in English factories. He returned to Trinidad in 1954, becoming a founder member of the People's National Movement. Knighted in 1962 and created the first black peer in 1969. Died in Brondesbury, Hampstead.

Appears in the short Ministry of Information film West Indies Calling. As a welfare officer working for the Ministry of Labour he promotes the wartime work being done by West Indian men and women in Britain.

2022: Reading a review of 'The Ten Legal Cases that Made Modern Britain' by Inigo Bing, we learnt that in 1943 Constantine and his family were effectively thrown out of the Imperial Hotel, with the manageress quoted as saying "we are not going to have these **** in our hotel, he can stop the night, but if he does not go tomorrow morning his luggage will be put outside his room and his door locked". Constantine took the hotel to court and Bing put the case in his book.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Learie Constantine

Commemorated ati

Learie Constantine - NW2

Unveiled exactly 109 years after he was born.

Read More

Learie Constantine - W8

Sir Learie Constantine, 1901 - 1971, West Indian cricketer and statesman, liv...

Read More

Other Subjects

Sir William Francis Kyffin Taylor

Sir William Francis Kyffin Taylor

G.B.E., K.C., Master of the Bench, 1905 - 1951, Treasurer of Inner Temple 1926. 1st and last Baron Maenan.

Person, Law

1 memorial
R. J. Buckingham

R. J. Buckingham

Mayor of Hammersmith 1946 - 49. Our colleague Andrew Behan has researched this man: Reginald James Buckingham was born on 8 April 1887 in Exeter, Devon. He was the second child and only son of Fre...

Person, Law, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Lord Eldon

Lord Eldon

Lord Chancellor.  1st Earl of Eldon. Opposed both the abolition of the slave trade and Catholic emancipation.

Person, Law, Race Issues

1 memorial
Major Brett Cloutman, VC

Major Brett Cloutman, VC

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Brett Mackay Cloutman VC MC KC was a British Army officer. Son of A. B. Cloutman. Educated at Berkhamsted School, Bishop's Stortford College and London University where he wa...

Person, Armed Forces, Law

War served, WW1
1 memorial
Staple Inn Hall

Staple Inn Hall

Staple Inn Hall, built in 1580, was destroyed by a flying bomb on the 24th August 1944. The Hall was rebuilt in its original form in 1955, incorporating timber & other materials saved from the...

Building, Community / Clubs, Law

1 memorial