Acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw has paid tribute to former Attorney General Sir Maurice King who died on Wednesday.
Here is the full text of her statement:
While the passage of time has a natural tendency toward the erosion of memories, a country ought never to forget the contribution of those who served it honestly, faithfully and with never a hint of animus.
Sir Maurice Athelstan King was one such Barbadian whose service we ought never to minimise, and today, at his passing, on behalf of the Government and people of Barbados, I extend sincere condolence to his family, as well as the family of the Democratic Labour Party. He was a loyal servant of the DLP for decades.
While it has been almost three decades since he retired from active politics, his many years of service in our Parliament, including three terms in the House of Assembly as the representative for Christ Church West Central, and Cabinet portfolios that included Attorney General, Minister of Legal Affairs, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, remain worthy of commendation.
But Sir Maurice’s service to the country did not always occur in the glare of the cameras. His contemporaries would recall that ordinary Barbadians were the major beneficiaries of his legal skills and intellect as the principal legal advisor to two former longstanding General Secretaries of the Barbados Workers Union, Sir Frank Walcott and Sir Roy Trotman.
Similarly, without fanfare, Sir Maurice represented Barbados well, but with the quiet confidence that is so often a key tool of international diplomacy, in the 1970s as our Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organisation of American States.
From Christ Church Boys Foundation School to Harrison College, the University of Manchester, Grays Inn and beyond, you have made your country proud. Rest in peace, Sir Maurice.
