Jamaica’s first female House Speaker, Violet Neilson has died
The first woman to serve as Speaker of Jamaica’s House of Representatives, Violet Neilson has died.
Neilson, who served in several People’s National Party (PNP) administrations under Prime Minister PJ Patterson, died Tuesday afternoon while the House was in session. She was 93.
A former teacher, Neilson also served as the first female president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society.
Current House Speaker, Juliet Holness, made the announcement on the motion for the adjournment of the sitting.
“Members, while we sat here in Parliament, about an hour, hour-and-half ago, our first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Violet Neilson passed away,” Holness said at 6:33 pm.
Neilson, a highly-regarded speaker, was Member of Parliament for St James East Central from 1989-1997.
Holness said the House will indicate at its next sitting when tributes will be paid to the former speaker.
