Statecraft & Independence
Distinguished
George William Gordon
1820 – 1865
Assembly member executed after the Morant Bay Rebellion
Distinguished is level 3 of 4 in the Jamaica Hall of Fame: sustained excellence over a career, widely honoured at home. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A businessman and member of the House of Assembly who spoke for poor black Jamaicans and was hanged under martial law in 1865.
Gordon was a sharp critic of Governor Eyre. After the Morant Bay uprising he was arrested in Kingston, taken to an area under martial law and tried by court martial, though he had played no part in the violence. He was named a National Hero in 1969.
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