Skip to Main Content

Dudley J. Thompson: Dudley J Thompson Biography

This guide contains the life and contributions of The Most Honourable Ambassador Dudley Joseph Thompson OJ KC an Outstanding Caribbean Leader.

Personal Details 

  • Born on the 19th of January 1917 in Panama, he was raised in Jamaica, in the parish of Westmoreland.

Education

  • Dudley Thompson attended Mico University College, Merton College, Oxford (Bachelor of Civil Law)

Awards and Recognition 

  • Dudley Thompson was a recipient of the Order of Jamaica (OJ)
  • He received a Mico Old Student Gold Medal for the most prestigious teacher’s award.
  • Dudley received a medal from the OAU in recognition of his status as a Legend of Africa
  • The African Union rewarded him a passport of the continent, declaring him a “First Citizen”, due to his work for the continent of Africa internationally.  

 Career

  • Royal Air Force during World War II (one of Britain’s first black pilots)
  • Practiced law in Tanganyika and Kenya (Africa) through nationalistic movements. He also practised law in Belize, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad, St. Kitts, and Dominica.
  • He served as a member of the Jamaican Senate (1962-1978)
  • House of Representatives (1978-1883)
  • Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Jamaica (1972-7)  (PNP)
  • Minister of Natural Resources in Jamaica (1977-78)
  • Minister of National Security and Justice in Jamaica (1978-1983)
  • Vice-president of the Peoples National Party (PNP)
  • Chairman of the PNP

Political Service 

  • Dudley J Thompson served as the president of the PNP following Michael Manley and was then succeeded by P. J. Patterson.
  • Dudley J Thompson successfully lobbied for the color scheme black, green and gold, (the colors of the African National Congress) to be adapted as the basis of the Flag of Jamaica.

 

Dudley J Thompson

 

A photo from the WW II album of  RAF Flight Lieutenant the  Rt. Hon, Dudley J. Thompson, O.C., Q.C of Jamaica, who collaborated in the production of “For King & Country.”  At 91 he is as lucid as ever (March 2009).