We are HEROES – Lady Bustamante
Gladys Bustamante, OJ , (March 8, 1912-July 25, 2009), is famously known as the widow of Jamaica’s first Prime Minister, Sir Alexander Bustamante and was also a Jamaican worker’s and women’s rights activist.
This phenomenal woman was born Gladys Maud Lonbrige on March 8 1912 in Parson Reid, Westmoreland to Frank Longbridge, a farmer and Rebecca Blackwood, a housewife.
During her childhood, she was raised by her grandparents and later moved to Kingston with her aunt. She enrolled in Ashton Primary School and went on to Tutorial Secondary and Commercial College where she studied to become a secretary.
After returning to Westmoreland in hope of finding means of employment, she met Alexander Bustamante, who later hired her as his personal secretary at the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU).
As a result of her employment she became an active participant and remarkable member of the movement as the treasurer and decision maker, making her the most influential woman in Jamaica. She played an important role in the founding of the Jamaica Labour Party with Alexander Bustamante in July 1943, whom she later married shortly after independence in 1962.
After her husband’s passing in 1977, Lady Bustamante became actively involved with Jamaican charitable causes. This led her to become a patron of the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston in memory of her husband.
For recognition of her contributions, she was awarded The Orchid Award in 1979 by the Government of Venezuela, the Order of Jamaica in 1982, the Plaque for Outstanding Public Service to Jamaica in 1986 and the Key to the City of Kingston on October 16, 2006 which was declared Lady Bustamante Day.
In 2009 when she died, she was laid to rest alongside her husband at the National Heroes Park in Kingston Jamaica.
Although she had no children of her own, her limitless dedication to the Bustamante Hospital for Children is inspiring and heartfelt everywhere. She still serves as an icon of excellence to women of all ages who endlessly struggle to make a positive impact on Jamaica’s society.
