Florizel Glasspole’s appointment as Governor-General came as a crowning achievement in a life dedicated to national service. A respected parliamentarian and trailblazing trade unionist, he held several key ministerial posts, including Education and Labour, and played a pivotal role in shaping Jamaica’s Independence Constitution. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Order of Distinction and later the prestigious Order of the Nation, making him one of the country’s most decorated public servants.

Published Thursday, May 24, 1973

Glasspole Named Governor-General

Swearing-in Ceremony Set for June 27

The Hon. Florizel Augustus Glasspole, C.D., Minister of Education, is to be the next Governor-General of Jamaica. The 64-year-old parliamentarian will be sworn in at King's House on June 27.
Prime Minister Hon. Michael Manley made the formal announcement of what he described as “the worst kept secret in recent governmental history” from the ballroom at King's House yesterday evening, in a short ceremony telecast to the nation.
The announcement was timed to coincide with the celebration of Labour Day, in recognition of Mr. Glasspole’s status as “Dean of the Labour Movement,” as the Prime Minister described him. Mr. Glasspole succeeds Sir Clifford Campbell, G.C.M.G., G.O.V.O., who retired on March 1 this year. He will thus be the second native son to become Head of State.
Order of the Nation
The Order of the Nation, a new Jamaican honour created exclusively for Governors-General, is shortly to be bestowed on Mr. Glasspole. The honour ranks below the Order of National Hero and above the Order of Merit.
The new Governor-General will be styled His Excellency the Most Honourable Florizel Glasspole, O.N., C.D.
First elected to the House of Representatives in 1944, Mr. Glasspole has been a member ever since and is thus one of the longest-serving Members of Parliament, representing the constituency of Eastern Kingston.
He was Minister of Labour from 1955–1957, Minister of Education from 1957–1962, and again since March 1972. He was also Leader of the House of Representatives from 1955–1962 and again since March 1972.
Born on September 25, 1909, Mr. Glasspole was educated at Central Branch Elementary School, Wolmer’s High School, and Ruskin College, Oxford, where he did trade union studies on a scholarship awarded by the British Trades Union Congress.
He has served the trade union movement with distinction, holding positions as:
General Secretary, Jamaica United Clerks Association (1937–1938)

General Secretary, Jamaica Trades Union Congress (1938–1952)

President, Jamaica Printers and Allied Workers Union (1942–1948)

General Secretary, Water Commission and Manual Workers Association (1941–1948)

President, Machado Employees Union (1945–1952)

General Secretary, National Workers Union (1952–1955)

He was a member of the House of Representatives Committee which prepared Jamaica's Independence Constitution and a member of the delegation which concluded the constitution with the British Government in 1962.
Acting GG
The ceremony yesterday was opened by Sir Herbert Duffus, who has been acting Governor-General since Sir Clifford's retirement.
He formally introduced the Prime Minister, while Mr. Glasspole, Mrs. Glasspole, their daughter Sara Lou, Lady Duffus, Mrs. Michael Manley, Senator the Hon. Dudley Thompson, Senator Carlyle Dunkley, Mr. Neville Smith, and the Governor-General's Secretary flanked the microphones.
Mr. Manley said that although the announcement would hardly come as a surprise, "it is nonetheless an announcement of very special and great importance, and one that gives me personally the greatest imaginable pleasure."
“I am pleased to announce that Her Majesty the Queen, acting on my recommendation, has appointed the Hon. Florizel Glasspole, Commander of the Order of Distinction, Minister of Education, distinguished parliamentarian and formerly great trade union leader, to be the next Governor-General of Jamaica.
“The Hon. Mr. Glasspole will be sworn in at King's House on Wednesday, June 27. Mr. Glasspole, of course, succeeds another great Jamaican, Sir Clifford Campbell, who retired on March 1 this year.
“The Order of the Nation, a new Jamaican honour especially created for Governors-General, is the country's highest behind the Order of National Hero but above the Order of Merit. It is shortly to be received by Mr. Glasspole, and the form and address for the new Governor-General will be His Excellency the Most Hon. Florizel Glasspole, Order of the Nation, Commander of the Order of Distinction.”
Her Excellency
The Prime Minister also announced that the new Governor-General's wife will be Her Excellency, the Most Hon. Mrs. Glasspole.
The Prime Minister said he was particularly happy to make the announcement on Labour Day because it was “of very special significance that a man who began his public life in the service of the workers of this country as a trade unionist – whose service spanned more than 18 years – actually commenced one year before the events which today's celebrations commemorate. And I feel in a very real sense that the trade union movement, which has played such a tremendous part in the development of our modern Jamaican society and in the development of our democracy, I feel it is of very great significance that it is the Dean of this movement that we should now have chosen to be our Governor-General and first citizen of the land.”
As one who had served the trade union movement and the workers of Jamaica himself, Mr. Manley said he was proud to feel that one of the most distinguished members of the movement would become the Governor-General of Jamaica.
Affirming that all agreed that education was “of greatest possible significance to Jamaica,” Mr. Manley recalled that the first native Governor-General was “a man of enormous distinction in the field of education himself and served as Governor-General with remarkable distinction.”
The new Governor-General, although not a teacher, in 1959 while he was Minister of Education “launched what has been described as the modern revolution in education.” Mr. Manley said Mr. Glasspole, again Minister of Education in 1973, was able in completion of the experiment he began “to take that early promise and translate it into reality.”
The Prime Minister paid personal tribute to Mrs. Glasspole as “a symbol of strength, of support, of encouragement, of loyalty who has stood with Mr. Glasspole through thick and thin, in the hard days and the good days, the lean years and the years of plenty, and the years when all seemed dark with clouds and now when all seems to be proceeding to the bright sunlight of success; and who is herself a symbol of grace and charm.”
The Acting Governor-General, Sir Herbert Duffus, received Mr. Manley’s thanks not only as “the principal custodian of justice in Jamaica” but also for the distinction with which he acted as first citizen in the interregnum between Sir Clifford and the Most Hon. Florizel Glasspole.
Lady Duffus was included with her husband in the tribute.
His speech ended, Mr. Manley was the first to congratulate Mr. Glasspole.

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