Samuel Jackman Prescod

The Right Excellent Samuel Jackman Prescod
Portrait at the 1840 anti-slavery convention
Born	1806 Barbados
Died	1871
Nationality	Barbadian
Education	St Mary's
Occupation	Journalist, Politician, Judge
Known for	National Hero of Barbados
Title	The Right Excellent
Parent(s)	William Prescod and Lidia Smith

Samuel Jackman Prescod (1806 – 26 September 1871) became the first person of African descent to be elected to the Parliament of Barbados, in 1843. He also helped found the Liberal Party, whose following included small landowners, businessmen, and coloured clerks. The Parliament of Barbados has enacted that he should be styled as "The Right Excellent" and that his life be celebrated on National Heroes Day (28 April) in Barbados.

Prescod was born as the son of a free woman of colour, Lidia Smith, and a wealthy white father, William Prescod. He was given his forenames for Samuel Jackman, a local white planter.

Prescod was excluded from politics in Barbados. A law of 1697 required that all voters should be white, own 10 acres (40,000 m²) of land and be of the Christian religion. In fact it was not until 1721 that non-whites testimony was accepted in a court in Barbados.

Prescod began his political work in 1829 and it was on 9 June 1831 a major change took place that allowed coloured people the same rights to vote as white people. The new act passed by Sir James Lyon, the Governor, removed "certain restraints and disabilities imposed by law on His Majesty's Free Coloured and Free Black Subjects in this Island." Postage stamps of both Lyon and Prescod were issued in 2006 to commemorate this event.

Although it was said that Prescod bore "no distinguishing marks of negro complexion" he was still subject to the racial discrimination endemic at that time. Even though he was well educated, a journalist and an acknowledged leader of the coloured community, he was thrown out of the Barbados House of Representatives for observing the political process like any other citizen was entitled to.

It was not until 1836 that non-whites were given their first newspaper, which was called the New Times. Prescod served for eight months without being paid, before the job was taken away from him as it was felt that his ideas were too radical. Prescod moved on to another paper, The Liberal, which was where he found his voice. This paper was targeted at working- and middle-class people irrespective of colour. The paper got into financial difficulties and Prescod was able to buy it in partnership with a man called Thomas Harris. Harris allowed him editorial freedom and this led to problems with the establishment, who saw him as challenging the .

In 1838, the concept of slavery was finally outlawed and about 80,000 slaves in Barbados lost their former status. Prescod, however, wrote: