Tom Adams | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 2nd Prime Minister of Barbados | |
| In office September 8, 1976 – March 11, 1985 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governors-General | Deighton Lisle Ward Hugh Springer |
| Deputy | Bernard St. John |
| Preceded by | Errol Barrow |
| Succeeded by | Bernard St. John |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jon Michael Geoffrey Manningham Adams (1931-09-24)September 24, 1931 British Windward Islands(present dayBarbados) |
| Died | March 11, 1985(1985-03-11) (aged 53) |
| Party | Barbados Labour Party |
| Spouse | Genevieve Adams |
| Residence | Ilaro Court 1984–1985 |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Jon Michael Geoffrey Manningham Adams (September 24, 1931 – March 11, 1985), known asTom Adams, was aBarbadianpolitician who served as the secondPrime Minister of Barbados from 1976 until 1985.[1]
The only son of SirGrantley Adams (a lawyer and the onlyPremier of the West Indies Federation) and Grace Adams (née Thorne), Tom Adams was educated atHarrison College, from which he won aBarbadosScholarship toMagdalen College of theUniversity of Oxford.
He served as thesecond Prime Minister ofBarbados between 1976 and 1985. His party, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), had capitalized on the population's desire for a change fromErrol Barrow's Democratic Labour Party, which had governed the island since independence in 1966.
Adams moved the country back towards the liberalism the BLP had been founded on, a trend in keeping with the popularity of liberal economistFriedrich Hayek inMargaret Thatcher's Britain andRonald Reagan'sUnited States in the early 1980s.
In 1983, Adams was the leading proponent in the grouping ofEastern Caribbean states that asked Reagan to intervene when a leadership struggle within the Leninist ruling party on Grenada ended in bloodshed.[2] On Oct. 12, a military-backed, insurgent faction led byBernard Coard, Grenada's deputy prime minister, ousted Prime MinisterMaurice Bishop and put him under house arrest. When Bishop's followers sought to restore him to power a week later, he and seven of his most loyal followers were executed by a Grenadian military firing squad. Adams was convinced that further disorder on Grenada was inevitable and posed a threat to the entire region.[2] He brokered support for an intervention in secret diplomatic dealings with the Reagan administration and like-minded leaders in the English-speaking Caribbean. Barbados was used as a staging point for some of the U.S. forces, and a nominal contingent of theBarbados Defence Force accompanied in the invasion force's wake, not least to allow (as Barrow claimed) Reagan to gild the statistics. The Barbadian population was of two minds about Adams' move, generally conceding that Bishop's murder had movedGrenada too far, but being uneasy with Reagan's US heavy-handedness. Nevertheless, Adams' BLP was tipped to win the upcoming elections at the time. During his tenure as prime minister, he held the additional portfolio ofMinister of Finance.
Adams died of aheart attack atIlaro Court, the Prime Minister's official residence, on March 11, 1985. He was the first sitting prime minister of Barbados to die in office.[3] He was buried inBridgetown, Barbados, at the churchyard of theCathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels on Saint Michael's Row.[4]
QueenElizabeth II was among global leaders who sent condolence as was addressed to Sir Hugh Springer, the then Governor-General of Barbados, which read:
″I was very shocked to hear of the sudden death of the prime minister, and Prince Philip and I send our deepest sympathy to the government and people of Barbados. The distinguished service given by Tom Adams to Barbados and to the Commonwealth (of Britain and its former colonies) during nine years as prime minister will always be remembered.″[5]
Adams'deputy Prime Minister,Bernard St. John, succeeded him but the Barbadian electorate turned back to the other political party, voting inErrol Barrow, and his Democratic Labour Party in the subsequent election in 1986. Barrow also died in office in 1987 shortly after his election victory.[3]
Many international leaders throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean and members of the resident diplomatic corp presented condolence.[1]
The ten-story building inBridgetown which houses theCentral Bank of Barbados is today known as the Tom Adams Financial Centre in his honour. He is also one of the namesakes of the island'sABC Highway.
Adams, who served as Prime Minister of the island for nine years before his untimely death in 1985, was remembered by most gathered at the St Michael's Cathedral to lay wreaths at his graveside.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Barbados 1976–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance of Barbados 1976–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Colonial Barbados (1953-1966) | |
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| Commonwealth Realm (1966-2021) | |
| Republic (From 2021) | |
| Related | |
* Served aspremier of Barbados. | |
| Commonwealth Realm (1966-2021) | |
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| Republic (Since 2021) | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
