Errol Walton Barrow (21 January 1920 – 1 June 1987) was a Barbadian statesman and the first prime minister of Barbados. Born into a family of political and civic activists in the parish of Saint Lucy, he became a WWII aviator, combat veteran, lawyer, politician, gourmet cook and author. He is often referred to as the "Father of Independence" in Barbados.

Early life

Errol Walton Barrow was born on 21 January 1920 in Saint Lucy, Barbados, the fourth of five children born to the Rev. Reginald Grant Barrow (1889–1980) and his wife Ruth Albertha (née O'Neal) (1884–1939). Ruth was the daughter of a prosperous blacksmith whose success allowed him to purchase the plantation at Saint Lucy, where Errol would later be born.

Reverend Barrow, an Anglican priest, had been appointed headmaster of the Alleyne school after his sermons as curate of St Lucy parish church brought him into conflict with the island's ruling class and church hierarchy. His removal from the pulpit did not succeed in curtailing his advocacy and agitation on behalf of poor black labourers on the island. In 1919 after he challenged the financial misappropriations of the white planters who oversaw the school's endowment, the church summarily transferred him to the island of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) leaving his wife alone to give birth to their second son at her family home, before she could join her husband with their four infant children.

As parish priest at Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Rev. Barrow's brand of what was later termed "liberation theology", was no better received by church authorities there than it had been in Barbados. By late 1920, he was forced out of Holy Cross and he founded St. Luke AME, the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in the USVI. Although he found a home for his values in the AME Church, his theological freedom made him all the more dangerous in the eyes of the island's authorities, and in 1922 he was deported by order of the Governor as an "undesirable". Under his fatherly influence, Dr. O'Neal's philosophies formed the core of the young Errol's political and social beliefs. Among Errol's playmates at his grandmother's house on Crumpton Street was his cousin Hugh Springer, later Sir Hugh, Governor General of Barbados and the third member of the family to be named a National Hero.

In Barbados, Errol first attended Wesley Hall Boys School before winning a scholarship to Combermere School, which he attended for one year before being admitted to Harrison College, then the most prestigious boys school on the island. It was during his schoolboy days that Barrow acquired the nickname "Dipper", ostensibly for his awkward cricket batting style. Thereafter, he undertook an 18-month navigator training course in Canada. Barrow was awarded his Air Navigator wings and promoted to Sergeant on 25 November 1943.

At this point Barrow was united with the men whose lives would become mutually dependent on each other if they were to survive the war: RAF pilot Andrew Leslie Cole and RAAF Wireless/Air gunners Leo Leslie J. Schultz and Robert Allen Stewart and RAF Navigator and Bomber Errol Walton Barrow spent four months training for operational missions in Nova Scotia, graduating on 7 April 1944. The newly formed crew returned to England on 20 September 1944 and joined 88 Squadron, part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force (TAF), flying Douglas Boston light bombers (aka DB-7s and A-20s by the Americans). <sup>:72</sup>

In April 1955, Barrow and 21 other like-minded politicians and activists adopted the Constitution of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) as a progressive alternative to the BLP. In the 1956 general election, the DLP fielded 16 candidates, of whom 12 were defeated, including the incumbent Barrow in his Saint George constituency.

After another landslide victory in 1971, the DLP returned to the electorate in 1976 for a mandate after two years of bitter controversy over constitutional amendments put forth by the government. Barrow, who had invited public comment on the amendments verbally lashed out at those who had been critical of what he viewed as a minor procedural change in the appointment of judges. A general economic downturn that affected most countries in the hemisphere contributed to a shift in public sentiment resulting in the party's election defeat.

As an indomitable advocate of Caribbean sovereignty he fiercely opposed interference in Caribbean affairs. As opposition leader in 1983, he spoke out forcefully against the United States invasion of Grenada and he was scathing in his criticism of other Caribbean leaders who kow-towed to Washington in the hope of getting economic handouts:

:"Mr. Seaga (Prime Minister of Jamaica, Edward Seaga) thinks that the solution to Jamaica's problems is to get President Reagan to play Santa Claus. I do not believe in Santa Claus."

In May 1986, after 10 years in opposition, Barrow was re-elected as Prime Minister in a landslide victory in which the DLP won 24 of 27 seats in the House of Assembly. The campaign was notable for an address he gave at a political rally some two weeks before the election, which came to be known as the "Mirror Image" speech. In it, Barrow rhetorically asked Barbadians what kind of a future they saw for themselves when they looked in the mirror; contrasting a life of menial labour as an émigré in the developed world, or staying and building a strong and independent Barbados to rival other small states like Singapore.

His re-election served as a catalyst for resurgent nationalism in the region, which by and large had subordinated itself to U.S. aid policy in the early 1980s. Barrow wasted no time in distancing himself from the "mendicant mentality" of his predecessors J. M. G. Adams and Bernard St. John. In his first press conference as Prime Minister he referred to Reagan as "that cowboy in the White House". In a British interview, he characterized the President of the United States as "a zombie; he's programmed, a very dangerous person".

He chastised Washington for its treatment of not only the Caribbean states, but also of Canada and the United Kingdom, which he described as Barbados' closest allies. His political opponents deemed his attacks on Reagan as "tactically stupid", but for most Barbadians, his outspokenness meant that "The Skipper" was back.

A year after his re-election, Prime Minister Errol Barrow collapsed and died at his home on 1 June 1987. By an act of Parliament in 1998, Barrow was posthumously named as one of the National Heroes of Barbados.

Personal life

Errol Barrow was a son of the Rev. Reginald Grant Barrow (1889–1980) and Ruth Albertha O'Neal (maiden; 1884–1939). His sister, Dame Nita Barrow, also became a social activist, humanitarian leader and later Governor General of Barbados. He had three other siblings, and two half-siblings from his father's second marriage.

Errol Barrow married Carolyn Marie Plaskett, the daughter of a prominent American Baptist minister in Orange, NJ, on 18 November 1945. Their union produced two children: Lesley (1949–2008) and David (born 1953). Despite their eventual estrangement the couple never divorced.

In the late 1950s, his relationship with union activist Thelma Padmore produced a son Eric (born 1960).

In her autobiography, the American singer Nina Simone claimed to have had an affair with Barrow (whose first name she misspells) during the brief period that she lived in Barbados.

During the last thirteen years of his life until his death, Barrow lived with socialite Jeanine Leemans.

Legacy

The Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus, promotes the making, study and appreciation of the arts. It is "a hub for creative expression and the creative cycle: creation, production, distribution, appreciation and preservation of art". He is also one of the namesakes of the island's ABC Highway.

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File:Statue of Errol W. Barrow. Bridgetown, Barbados.jpg|Statue of Errol Barrow at Independence Square, Bridgetown, Barbados

File:Errol Barrow Centre For Creative Imagination (UWI), Barbados-1.jpg|Errol Barrow Center For Creative Imagination

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See also

  • Politics of Barbados
  • List of Premiers/Prime Ministers of Barbados
  • National Heroes of Barbados

References

Further reading

  • Errol Barrow - Barbados National Heroes.
  • Errol Barrow - For All of Us: Address at the signing ceremony of the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
  • The Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, at the Cave Hill Campus of UWI.
  • Historical Marker Database
  • The Freedom House Photographs collection contains images of Errol Barrow in Barbados and in Boston, Massachusetts (Archives and Special Collections of the Northeastern University Libraries in Boston, Massachusetts).
  • Errol Barrow, Getty Images.
  • Errol Barrow's time in the RAF - from 1940 to 1947 as an observer / navigator during WWII with 88 Squadron and post WWII flying with BAFO Communications Squadron.
  • The Beautiful Blonde in the Bank – a book by Errol Barrow's wartime pilot F/L Andrew Leslie Cole AFC RAF about training in Canada, operational flying with 88 Squadron and peacetime flying with BAFO Communications Squadron.
  • RAF Museum Collections Online - Photograph of Errol Walton Barrow at No. 17 Initial Training Wing, August 1942.

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