James Alexander George Smith (JAGS),
born in the hills of Hanover in 1877, who after attending the Lucea Elementary School, enrolled at Rusea's High School from
which he graduated in 1891. That same year he entered the Jamaica
Civil Service and in 1906 enrolled at Lincoln's Inn in London,
England. Four years later in January 1910, he was called to the
Bar in London and then returned home for an illustrious career in
politics and law. He entered the Legislature in 1917 and remained
undefeated until his death in 1942. JAGS single-handedly broke
the political monopoly of the big planter class by encouraging
and nurturing a generation of professionals into political
representation. J.A.G Smith held centre stage within the
Legislature from 1927 to 1935 He was a most prominent barrister
of the day.Photo taken from The Jamaica Observer
To JAGS credit are: 1) A new Constitution, to give more power to elected Representatives and with Universal Adult Suffrage-Introduced in 1944. 2) A National Water Authority, for Jamaica-Established 1965. 3) A National Pension Scheme-Established in 1966 with The NIS. |