Sir Donald Burns Sangster ON GCVO (26 October 1911 – 11 April 1967) was a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

n solicitor and politician, and the second Prime Minister of Jamaica.

Early life

Donald Burns Sangster was born in Black River in the parish of St. Elizabeth,

. His father William B. Sangster was a land surveyor and a planter. His mother's name is Cassandra Sangster (née Plummer). Sangster attended the prestigious

Munro College Munro College is a boarding school for boys in St Elizabeth, Jamaica. It was founded in 1856 as the Potsdam School (named for the city of Potsdam), a school for boys in St. Elizabeth as stipulated in the will of plantation owners Robert Hugh Munr ...

in St. Elizabeth.

Political career

He entered politics at the age of 21 in 1933, when he was elected to the Parish Council of St Elizabeth, Jamaica. In 1944 he was elected to the

House of Representatives of Jamaica The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It consists of three elements: The Crown (represented by the Governor-General), the appointed Senate and the directly elected House of Representatives. The Se ...

as a member of the

Jamaica Labour Party The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party (as is the case for "Labour" parties in sev ...

(JLP). He then went on to become Minister of Social Welfare and Labour and later,

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

. He became Acting Prime Minister in February 1964 when Prime Minister Sir

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Early life and education He wa ...

became ill. On 21 February, in the

1967 Jamaican general election General elections were held in Jamaica on 21 February 1967.Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p430 The result was a victory for the Jamaica Labour Party, which won 33 of the 53 seats. Voter turnout was ...

, the JLP were victorious again, winning 33 out of 53 seats, with the PNP taking 20 seats. He succeeded Bustamante as Prime Minister on 23 February 1967, and he only had one cabinet meeting before he fell ill less than two weeks later and became the only prime minister to die in office on 11 April, after suffering a subarachnoid haemorrhage. His face appears on the Jamaican one hundred dollar banknote.

Sangster International Airport Sangster International Airport is an international airport located east of Montego Bay, Jamaica. The airport is capable of handling nine million passengers per year. It serves as the most popular airport for tourists visiting the north coast ...

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the parish of St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore, all of which form the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, h ...

is named after him.

Knighthood

Sangster was taken ill on 18 March 1967, and was flown by the U.S. government to the

Montreal Neurological Institute The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC; french: Centre universitaire de santé McGill) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is affiliated with McGill University and is one of the largest medical complex in ...

for specialist treatment. He went into a coma a few weeks later on 1 April, and was knighted by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

during that period; he died 10 days later.

References

Sources

* , '' The Jamaica Gleaner'', 3 September 2007. 1911 births 1967 deaths Deaths from subarachnoid hemorrhage Finance ministers of Jamaica Government ministers of Jamaica Jamaica Labour Party politicians Jamaican knights Recipients of the Order of the Nation Jamaican Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica People from Saint Elizabeth Parish Prime Ministers of Jamaica {{Jamaica-politician-stub