Abstract
was born, illegitimate, in Cedros, located on Trinidad’s southwestern peninsula, in November 1867. (Some scholars, including Selwyn Cudjoe [2013], name Dr. St. Luce Philip as the first legislator of African lineage, in 1838.) In 1882 David was admitted to the Queen’s Royal College in Port of Spain. He won an Island Scholarship in 1885 (becoming the first Afro-Trinidadian to do so), studied law at Gray’s Inn (London) in 1886, and was admitted to the Bar in July 1889. He then began to practice in Trinidad.David opposed the Crown Colony government, and as secretary of the Reform Committee (1892–1895), he advocated for the addition of elected members to the Legislative Council (members at the time were nominated by officials or selected by the governor). This change did not occur until 1924 however after his death David was also nominated to a Legislative ...