First female Resident’s Magistrate lived a life of pioneering

Vice-President of the United States, Kamala Harris has consistently said, that while she has been the first to achieve many things as a woman, she won’t be the last. In Jamaica, a woman born more than 100 years earlier, believed the same thing.

Born in 1917, Ena Collymore excelled in fields normally reserved for her male counterparts, but more than that, opened the doors of law and public service to other women.

Ever heard of foreshadowing?

Well, Ena’s first job certainly smacked of the literary device, as she would respond to a government advertisement for a male clerk, go on to earn the post and promptly joined an all-male office.

So, from early, showing she did not see barriers where perhaps there always had been, Collymore would join the British Army during World War II, becoming part of the Auxillary Territorial Service to start, and then moving into the Anit-Aircraft unit.

Collymore wasn’t done there though and wanted to do more, becoming a radar operator in Belgium in the latter part of her service.

At the end of World War II, Collymore began a sojourn into law, another field that was almost all male. She was called to the bar at Gray’s Inn in London. She was the only woman on the debating team there and found her way into the Students’ Union. Again, she was the only woman on the executive body.

Back in Jamaica, Ena would begin her career at the criminal court and by 1950, she was the first female Clerk of the Court and three years later she was again the first Assistant Crown Solicitor.

The list of firsts just kept coming and by 1959, Ena Collymore was the first female Resident’s Magistrate in Jamaica’s history.

During her career as a Resident’s Magistrate, Collymore distinguished herself, serving as Chair of the Juvenile Court from 1964-67. BY 1975 she was a Senior Resident Magistrate for the parish of St Andrew. A year later, Collymore moved to the Turks and Caicos Islands where she became the country’s Magistrate, Registrar General and Registrar of Companies.

Her travelling didn’t end there either as she would go on giving service to the Caribbean, serving as Magistrate and Consultant in Anguilla and Montserrat.

Of course, Collymore’s remarkable career wasn’t restricted to the law. She was a District Commissioner, Divisional Commissioner and later, Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association of Jamaica, holding the top position from 1964-74.

Collymore was also president of the Soroptimist International of Jamaica and the Caribbean, an organisation that advocates for the rights of women.

The woman of many firsts used her influence in the courts to the benefit of women in Jamaica, championing legislation such as the Status of Children’s Act, and agitating for the establishment of nurseries at the workplace and the demolition of laws that adversely affected women and children in that space.

Her life brought with it, much acclaim, and Collymore would earn the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1967, and the Order of Distinction in Jamaica for her public service. She also received the Silver Bee for her work in the development of the Girls Guide movement in Jamaica and the Silver Fish, the highest award an adult can receive from the Girls’ Guide movement.

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