Philip S.W. Goldson, dead at 78
The nation mourns tonight for one of the country’s most respected patriots. Phillip S.W. Goldson died this morning in New York where he had been hospitalised. Flags are expected to be flown at half-mast tomorrow in honour of the man who played an integral role in Belize’s development, in both the political and social arenas. In September, Goldson was awarded with the Order of Belize. During that time, News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams profiled Mr. Goldson’s career. Here’s another look at that story.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
Many Belizean men and women have had a hand in shaping Belize’s early history from settlement to independence. Among them, the name of Philip Goldson appears prominently.
But who is this politician who has perhaps become more famous for his patriotism than his politics? Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson was born in Belize City on July twenty-fifth, 1923 to Peter Edward Goldson and his wife Florence Babb. He married Hadie Jones on election day, April twenty-eighth, 1954 and fathered six children.
Goldson, who is now seventy-eight, has had a long and illustrious career, both inside and outside of government.
He started as a journalist in 1941 when he joined the British Honduras Civil Service. He wrote numerous articles for The Belize Billboard, the foremost newspaper of the time, which championed the cause of Belizean workers and the unemployed. It was perhaps through this medium that he became involved in the trade union movement as national organiser and later General Secretary of the General Workers Union.
Goldson was one of the founding members of the People’s United Party in 1950. In 1951, he was convicted of seditious intentions along with Leigh Richardson and served twelve months in prison. It seemed as if imprisonment fuelled his political flame, as in 1954 he won a seat on the British Honduras Legislative Council.
Determined to stand firm in a disagreement with the PUP, he resigned from that party and later formed the National Independence Party. As leader in 1956, he was the opposition’s lone voice in the House from 1961 to 1974. He resigned from the United Democratic Party in 1991 when he refused to accept the Maritime Areas Bill.
The Albert Division has been his political stronghold since 1965, a seat which he never lost, retiring from politics after the 1993-1998 term with the United Democratic Party. Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
It is not yet known whether Goldson’s body will be brought back to Belize for burial.
