Brindley Benn

Brindley died on 11 December 2009, aged 86, after a long illness.

In 1992, with the return of democracy to Guyana, the PPP were returned to office by free and fair elections. Benn accepted President Dr. Jagan's offer to be on the PPP's list of candidates and won a seat in Parliament. He was later appointed Guyana's High Commissioner to Canada, a position he held with distinction from 1993 to 1998.

After his release in 1965, Benn became disenchanted by the differences in opinion in the PPP. He moved away from the party to establish his own – the Working People's Vanguard Party (WPVP). The WPVP printed a weekly mimeographed account of social, economic and political affairs occurring locally and internationally. Benn was for a time strongly attracted to the Maoist vision of a peasant-led social revolution. In the late 1970s, he joined with Walter Rodney, Eusi Kwayana, Andaiye, Moses Baghwan and Rupert Roopnaraine to form the Working People's Alliance. Discussions were held under the umbrella organization Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) in the fight for free and fair elections in Guyana.

After the 1961 general elections, which the PPP also won, Benn was appointed Minister of Natural Resources. During this time he conceptualised and founded the Guyana School of Agriculture (1963). He oversaw the implementation of the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary (MMA) Scheme, Boersarie Scheme, Tapacuma Scheme and the Black Bush Polder – all major drainage and irrigation schemes.

During the disturbances in the early 1960s, Benn was imprisoned by the British. During this period, the British successfully split the PPP along racial lines—the originally nationalist and multi-ethnic PPP became the party that was allegedly the party of Indo-Guyanese, whereas most Afro-Guyanese joined the People's National Congress (PNC). Brindley Benn became the most prominent Afro-Guyanese to remain with the PPP, making a statement against the divide-and-rule tactics of colonialism. The PPP was removed from office in 1964 by the political machinations of the British (see History of Guyana.) Several Ministers and other important persons were detained. Among them was Brindley Benn, who was confined at Sibley Hall of Mazaruni Prison for several months.

Benn was appointed Minister of Community Development and Education in 1957 and given an office across the road from the Parliament Building. During that time that he organised the National History and Culture Week (1961–1964) under the theme 'One People, One Nation, One Destiny', which later became independent Guyana's motto.

Upon his return to Georgetown in 1956, Benn was elected Chairman of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) and Member of the Executive Committee. The PPP contested the 1957 elections with Benn as the representative of the Essequibo Islands and the Interior. That single constituency comprised the largest single land area being contested in the country, and he came up against the candidacy of Mr. E. F. Corriea. He broke the long occupancy of the seat by Mr. Corriea when he won the election.

After several raids by the army and the police on his brother's home, it was decided that his wife and family would move to New Amsterdam, where they established residence at 21 St. Magdelane Street. They lived there from 1954 to 1956 and the family increased by two with the birth of twins.

When the colonial constitution was suspended in 1953, Benn was detained and put under restriction orders in New Amsterdam, where he had gone to assess Party activity. He was ordered to report to the police between 8 and 10 a.m. every day except Sunday. His wife and three children regularly commuted by train to visit him where he lived with his brother, Lancelot, who worked as a driver mechanic with PWD at Canje.

He married his wife Patricia in 1951; they remained together throughout his life. The Benns had seven children – including fraternal twins – and eight grandchildren.

After finishing school, Benn travelled to Kwakwani to work as a clerk with the Bauxite Company. His parents were living in the mining community at the time and his father was a senior staff member at the Reynolds Mining and Metals Company. His mother was a caterer and a boarding house proprietor in the community, where she became popular for her activity in social and community life. Samuel Benn died in Kwakwani in 1948 and was buried there. Rosa remained in the community until the early 1960s, when she returned to Georgetown.

Benn was a chorister at St. James the Less Anglican Church with Choirmasters who included the late Claude Merriman. He later became Choir Master at the St. Sidwell's Anglican Church around 1945 and served for about five years, until the Choir was disbanded. The Choir competed successfully at several choir festivals and became very popular with the public, especially its Friday practice sessions. St. Sidwell's Choir was the smallest at the time when it performed Stainer's The Crucifixion and was noted for performing some of the most difficult choral pieces then in existence. The organist was the legendary Carl Welshman. Some members of Benn's chorister group included the late broadcaster Matthew Allen, Senior Counsel Lloyd Joseph and Wittington Braithwaite.

Benn returned to Georgetown in the early 1940s when the Bauxite Company started to scale down the workforce. He began teaching at a secondary school (currently the Richard Ishmael Secondary School) and briefly had his own school, Georgetown Secondary, which was located in Evans Street. He operated the school for about three years.

Brindley Horatio Benn, CCH (24 January 1923 – 11 December 2009) was a teacher, choirmaster, politician, and one of the key leaders of the Guyanese independence movement. He was put under restriction when the constitution was suspended in 1953. In 1957, Benn served as Minister of Community Development and Education in the first elected government of Guyana, and between 1961 and 1964 as Minister of Natural Resources. From 1993 to 1998, he served as High Commissioner of Guyana to Canada.