Alfred A. Thorne


Alfred Athiel Thorne, LLD, MA , was a Popular Statesman, Incisive Author, Advocate for Educational Access, and Key Contributor to the History of Human Rights. A.A. Thorne famously championed human rights during the nineteenth century by establishing and leading one of the first human rights and labor rights institutions in the Western Hemisphere. He also broke new ground for Educational Access by establishing and operating one of the world's first co-educational private secondary schools, providing equal access to qualified students regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, religion or financial status, in British Guiana in 1894. The school he founded provided educational access for hundreds of students who would otherwise have been excluded from the existing preparatory schools due to their high tuitions and restrictive class-based and gender-based admissions policies. Called a "Hero of the People", Thorne worked to unify the collective voices of East Indians, Africans, Chinese, Portuguese, Aboriginal Amerindians, and working class British colonists across the British colony. He was popularly elected to numerous public offices for more than fifty years, including as Mayor of British Guiana's capital city, Georgetown. A prolific writer and columnist, Thorne authored numerous published articles and editorial columns for the influential newspapers "Echo" and "Outlook" in British Guiana, as well as notable articles published by the "Boston Transcript" in Massachusetts. Using the merit of his ideas and the power of his words, AA Thorne courageously stood up for the principles of self-determination, social justice and equal rights which had been casualties of colonialism and plantocracy -- and he repeatedly won broad-based support, driven by compelling arguments and inclusive politics. Born in Barbados, Dr. Thorne was a British Classical Scholar and earned two degrees from Durham University in Durham, England -- the world's third-oldest English-speaking university -- where he graduated with honors and became the first person in history of African descent to earn both Bachelor's and Advanced degrees conferred by a British University.
A.A. Thorne first visited the United States in 1904, at the special invitation of the New York City Mayor. During this U.S. visit, Thorne delivered a keynote address to the President and Alumni of Wilberforce University, where the Senate conferred upon Thorne the degree of Doctor of Laws, a distinctive honor which had only been conferred previously on two other men: US President William McKinley, and Frederick Douglass.

Advocate for Educational Access

Dr. Thorne served many decades as an educator, writer and elected official in British Guiana, creating positive and lasting impact for generations by advocating for the principles of freedom, democracy and self-determination. He founded the country's first private coeducational secondary school offering equal access regardless of gender, ethnicity, color, or socio-economic status. After graduating with advanced degrees from University of Durham in England, Thorne moved to British Guiana, where in 1894 he founded the country's first coeducational private secondary school that provided equal access to qualified students regardless of gender, color, ethnicity or socio-economic status, called The Middle School because it was the first opportunity for high-quality education accessible to talented students from middle class families. The school provided a high quality level of education that rivaled the standards previously available only to students from families who enjoyed privileged plantocracy-based high status, who could attend top schools including Queen's College and Bishop's High School, and were wealthy enough to afford their high tuitions.
Dr. Thorne also served as the school's Headmaster. The school broke many barriers, enrolling both boys and girls and providing children from underprivileged and moderate-income families access to reduced tuition and tuition-free education comparable in quality to the educational level previously available only at the leading elite private educational institutions such as Queens College -- thereby creating educational access for the first time across gender lines, ethnic lines, and socio-economic classes in an era long before gender rights and civil rights were protected by anti-discrimination laws and equal opportunity laws of the land. The private school became known for the high-quality education it provided. It was on par with Queen's College and Bishop's High School.

Influential Statesman and Author

A.A. Thorne served a prominent role in public service and held elected offices at both the municipal and national level for more than 50 years in British Guiana, including as an elected member of the Georgetown City Council for 47 years starting in 1902. Thorne was elected to the Combined Court in 1906. He served as Deputy Mayor in 1921, 1922 and 1925. He was elected to the national post of Financial Representative for the North West District and New Amsterdam.

Advocate for Human Rights and Workers' Rights

Thorne led British Guiana Labour Union, the country's first worker's union, and subsequently founded and led the country's second trade union, the British Guiana Workers' League, in 1931. He served as the League's leader for 22 years. The League sought to protect basic human rights and improve the working conditions of people from all ethnic backgrounds including workers of West African, East Indian, Chinese, Portuguese, and Amerindian descent — many of whom had originally been brought to the British colony under a system of forced labor or indentured servitude, or who had been natives of the land now occupied and taken over under the forces of European imperialism.
A.A. Thorne also served as President of the British Guiana Trades Union Council. The union represented the human rights interests of a variety of workers including laborer on sugar plantations, municipal workers in Georgetown, and ward-maids at the Georgetown Hospital. His work laid the foundation for the formation of the Man Power Citizens' Association, which he also co-led.
A.A. Thorne was first elected to the City Council of the British colony's capital city Georgetown in 1902. As a member of City Council, he was active in reform efforts of the colony. Two years after joining the council, in 1904, he published an article in a Boston, MA newspaper about the dominance of the sugar plantation and the sugar industry over all other economic sectors in the country. After the Argosy newspaper in Georgetown retaliated, A. A. Thorne was awarded $500 by the courts in a successful claim of libel. The now famous court case is documented in . Thorne entered national politics in 1906 with his successful election to the national Court of Policy post and won re-election again in 1916.

Lifetime of Public Service

Dr. Thorne served numerous elected offices including as an elected Legislator and Town Councillor. He is recognized for "throwing open certain avenues of employment to Guianese".
Dr. Thorne recognized that the 1919 Colonisation Scheme created friction and negative racial feelings in the colony of British Guiana. He was instrumental in advocating for fair wages for all citizens, and led the way for passage of increased wages for East Indians, who were introduced to the colony as cheap labor. Dr. Thorne helped to make the country's agricultural industry more internationally competitive by demonstrating how colonial control over rice production, a staple sustenance crop in the colony at the time, had led to unwise pricing practices, resulting in rice being priced higher in British Guiana than neighboring countries and islands. One of his sons, Alfred P. Thorne, built on this information in reference to the issues of maintaining a supply of low-cost labor in developing countries in his book .
Although no formal biography of his life exists yet, A.A. Thorne has been widely referenced as a pivotal historical figure in connection with the spread of social justice, democracy and other transformational changes across the Caribbean region during the 19th century. His perspectives were included in Nancy Cunard's in a chapter titled 'The Negro and his Descendants in British Guiana' In it, he describes the social and economic conditions of black and brown people living in the plantation-based colonies of Guiana under Dutch, French and British rule.

Early Life, Education, and Family

Alfred Athiel Thorne was born in Barbados. Barbados at the time was a British colony. Thorne was the son of Louisa Jane Alleyne and Samuel Athiel Thorne, a highly educated schoolmaster in Barbados. A.A. Thorne graduated from the Lodge School and Codrington College in St John, Barbados, and subsequently earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in England at the University of Durham in England.
Thorne completed his secondary education at the Lodge School in St John, Barbados.
After graduating from Lodge School, Thorne graduated #1 rank in his class at Codrington College, the leading preparatory college in Barbados which was traditionally attended by sons of the local gentry and plantocracy prior to attending an English university. Codrington College was founded in 1710, and its current campus was built in 1745. Codrington College's graduating students took the national British exams, which determined their qualification for admission to a university in England. Each year, the highest-scoring graduate was awarded a national scholarship to attend Durham University in England. Thorne achieved the highest score on the national exam. However, no person of color had ever before won this prestigious national scholarship. In a cowardly and open act of racism, the Scholarship Committee notoriously made the ill-fated decision not to honor its commitment to provide the award to Thorne, the undisputed highest-scoring student that year on the national exam. Instead, they offered the scholarship to a white student who earned the second-place score on the national exam. Revealing what would prove to be a lifetime of standing up for justice, an individual of integrity standing up against the powerful forces of plantocracy and colonial forces, A.A. Thorne properly sued the national college committee in the British colonial courts -- and, against all odds, he WON his case. Thorne persuaded the court that British rules for the university scholarship must be followed as written. As a result, Thorne was granted the scholarship and proceeded to graduate from Durham University, earning not one, but two degrees, and graduating with honors. He was the first person of African heritage in the British Empire to earn two degrees from a university in England -- and achieved them with Honors.
After earning two degrees with honors from Durham University, A.A. Thorne returned to the Caribbean and resided in British Guiana. He married schoolteacher and accomplished artist Eleanor Amanda McLean, but became a young widower due to her untimely death. Thereafter, Thorne met Violet Janet Ashurst, a Classical Greek and Latin Scholar and artist who was born and raised in British Guiana, the daughter of Charles Ashurst and Elizabeth Jane Alexander, whose family was from Belfast, Ireland. A.A. Thorne remained happily married with Violet for the rest of his long life, and Violet survived him and lived to her 100th year. A.A. Thorne had 10 children: Alfred Hubert Thorne ; twin brothers Albert Athiel Thorne and Alfred McLean-Thorne ; twin sisters Alfreda and Elfreda ; Alfred P. Thorne, PhD ; Duncan John Vivian Thorne, DMD ; Arthur George Thorne ; Aileen Roselle Callender ; and his tenth and final offspring was Cecil Michael Thorne, MD.

Publications