Marcus Garvey Biography

Home > Icons > Marcus Garvey > Biography Part 1

Biography Part 1 - Growing up in Jamaica

Marcus Garvey was born on 17 August 1887 in St. Ann's Bay, St Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Marcus Garvey Sr and Sarah Jane Richards. Garvey was the youngest of 11 siblings, but only himself and one of his sisters survived to adulthood. Garvey’s father was a great lover of books and from an early age, Garvey inherited this love for reading, and could often be found reading books from his father's large library.

In 1900, Marcus Garvey took an apprenticeship at his Godfather (Alfred Burrowes) printing business. In 1906, Garvey moved to Kingston with his mother where he took up work as a compositor at P.A. Benjamin Limited, a local printry. Marcus Garvey found a great deal of success in his role at P.A. Benjamin and by 1907 he had risen to the ranks of master printer and foreman. Garvey was also an influential employee and, by 1907, was also elected the vice-president of the Typographical Union. Garvey's first major role within the union was a printers strike in 1908. The strike was unsuccessful and lead to Garvey being fired and blacklisted from private sector employment. Garvey worked for a brief period in the Government Printing Office and, in 1909, founded his own newspaper, "The Watchman". The Watchman only ran for 3 issues before Marcus Garvey left Jamaica in 1910 in order to obtain a higher paying job to finance his projects.

Next: Travelling through Central America and Europe

         Share