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Charles Duncan O'Neal

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Charles Duncan O'Neal (30 November 1879 – November 1936)[1] was a Barbados physician, political figure and labor rights activist. He founded the radical Democratic League in 1924 and influenced the shift towards party-focused politics still seen in Barbados today.

Early life

O'Neal was born in St Lucy, Barbados to Joseph O’Neal and Kathleen O’Neal (formerly Pinnie Kathleen Prescod). His father, a blacksmith turned shopkeeper, invested in his son's education. Because of this, O’Neal was schooled at Harrison College, and in 1899 went to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MBChB on 23 July 1904.[1]

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Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of 432 km2 (167 sq mi) and has a population of about 287,000. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.

Harrison College (Barbados)

Harrison College (Barbados)

Harrison College is a co-educational grammar school in Bridgetown, Barbados. Founded in 1733, the school takes its name from Thomas Harrison, a Bridgetown merchant, who intended it to serve as "A Public and Free School for the poor and indigent boys of the parish".

University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter of King James VI in 1582 and officially opened in 1583, it is one of Scotland's four ancient universities and the sixth-oldest university in continuous operation in the English-speaking world. The university played an important role in Edinburgh becoming a chief intellectual centre during the Scottish Enlightenment and contributed to the city being nicknamed the "Athens of the North." Edinburgh is ranked among the top universities in the United Kingdom and the world.

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery

A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery is a undergraduate medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kingdom. The historical degree nomenclature states that they are two separate undergraduate degrees. In practice, however, they are usually combined as one and conferred together, and may also be awarded at graduate-level medical schools. It usually takes five to six years to complete this degree.

Political career

While still at university, O’Neal became an active member of the Independent Labour Party of Kier Hardie. After his graduation he served on the County Council of Sunderland, influenced by his surgical work with coal miners and workers in Newcastle.

When O’Neal returned to Barbados, progressive forces had already begun to agitate for greater rights for the labouring underclass against what had continued to be a plantocratic government.[2] He founded the Democratic League in 1924, along with Clennell Wickham.

Prior to 1942, voters were required by the Representation of the People Act to have a minimum income as well as at least an acre of land or land that produced a minimum profit. This restricted democratic participation to the wealthy elite, many of them owners of the plantations that still dominated Barbados’ sugar cane economic landscape. However, in the 1920s, villages began to expand, resulting in the rise of a newly enfranchised electorate, mostly from the labour class and of colour. The League's early focus was the increased registration of these new voters, in an effort push through legislation that had been widely opposed by the plantocratic elite. These included compulsory free education, the abolition of child labour and expanded worker protections. As a part of this and with his background in Labour and democratic socialism, O’Neal also worked towards the organization and unionization of the workers, including representing them during strike action.

O’Neal was elected to the constituency of the city of Bridgetown in 1932, a seat he held until his death four years later.

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Independent Labour Party

Independent Labour Party

The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates, representing the interests of the majority. A sitting independent MP and prominent union organiser, Keir Hardie, became its first chairman.

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is also the most populous city of North East England. Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius and the settlement later took the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose.

Clennell Wickham

Clennell Wickham

Clennell Wilsden Wickham was a radical West Indian journalist, editor of Barbadian newspaper The Herald and champion of black, working-class causes against the white planter oligarchy in colonial Barbados during the inter-war period, leading to the social unrest that triggered the Riots of 26 July 1937.

Democratic socialism

Democratic socialism

Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a market socialist economy or an alternative form of a decentralised planned socialist economy. Democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom, equality, and solidarity and that these ideals can only be achieved through the realisation of a socialist society. Although most democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to socialism, democratic socialism can support revolutionary or reformist politics to establish socialism. Democratic socialism was popularised by socialists who opposed the backsliding towards a one-party state in the Soviet Union and other nations during the 20th century.

Legacy

The Democratic League shifted Barbadian politics away from a paradigm that focused on voting for individual to where the current system, where support of a party over the individual tends to guide voters. Some of the goals of O’Neal's Democratic League were taken up by his opponents in the Barbados Labour Party after his death and some, such as free education, were later to be accomplished by the Democratic Labour Party.[3]

One of the two main bridges over the Careenage in the capital-city Bridgetown is named the Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge.

By an act of Parliament in 1998 O'Neal was named as one of the ten National Heroes of Barbados.[4] He is currently on the $10 Barbados banknote.

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Bridgetown

Bridgetown

Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The City", but the most common reference is simply "Town". As of 2014, its metropolitan population stands at roughly 110,000.

Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge

Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge

Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge is a bridge in Bridgetown, Barbados. It is one of two bridges over the Careenage, the other being the Chamberlain Bridge, although unlike the Charles Duncan Bridge it does not take traffic. It is named after Charles Duncan O'Neal who founded the radical Democratic League in 1924.

Parliament of Barbados

Parliament of Barbados

The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate and an elected House of Assembly, as well as the President of Barbados who is indirectly elected by both. Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings, in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael.

Source: "Charles Duncan O'Neal", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2021, December 21st), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Duncan_O'Neal.

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Further Reading

Barbados

Politics of Barbados

Owen Arthur

Grantley Herbert Adams

Tom Adams (politician)

Errol Barrow

Lloyd Erskine Sandiford

House of Assembly of Barbados

Hugh Gordon Cummins

Index of Barbados-related articles

Samuel Jackman Prescod

Monarchy of Barbados

Mia Mottley

Freundel Stuart
References
  1. ^ a b Sean Creighton and Peter Freshwater, "Charles Duncan O'Neal" Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, North East Slavery & Abolition Group ENewsletter, No. 8, April 2010, p. 15.
  2. ^ David V.C. Browne, The 1937 Disturbances and Barbadian Nationalism, The Empowering Impulse, Canoe Press, 2001
  3. ^ Emancipation III: Aspects of the Post-Slavery Experience of Barbados, 1988
  4. ^ Parliament of Barbados (2009). "Parliament's History". Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
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