Burke, Rudolph Augustus

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Burke, Rudolph Augustus

June 13, 1899
February 2, 1972

Rudolph Burke was a planter, sportsman, politician, and leader of the Jamaican farming community. He was born in Kingston and attended Wolmer's High for Boys and Jamaica College. He later made his home in the Llandewey area of Saint Thomas, where he managed the farm left by his deceased parents. Burke held numerous positions in Jamaica's agricultural sector, most importantly as president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) between 1944 and 1962. This society was launched in 1895 by the governor, Sir Henry Blake, to develop the agricultural industry in Jamaica and to improve the socioeconomic position of farmers.

Burke effected many changes in the JAS. He conceived and headed the Central Committee of the Primary Producers (CCPP), which organized agricultural groups in Jamaica. He also spearheaded the establishment of the All Island Banana Growers Association, of which he was vice chairman, and the Citrus Growers Association, which he directed. Among Burke's achievements in agriculture was the negotiation of the ten-year plan under which concentrated orange juice was supplied to the United Kingdom from Jamaica. Burke was also a member of negotiation teams that developed trade links with England, including the Banana Delegation from Jamaica to Britain's Ministry of Food.

Burke stressed the importance of relying on local agricultural produce in order to cement the country's independence and increase economic prosperity. He also refused financial incentives to align the JAS with other farming organizations made up of estate owners. In so doing, he reinforced the position of the JAS as a platform for small farmers and set a tone of propriety and integrity in the organization.

Burke held numerous public offices during his career. He was a director of Jamaica Welfare Limited, founded to improve the lives of rural Jamaicans by Norman Manley, the leader of the People's National Party (PNP). Burke also was elected to the parochial board in Saint Thomas at the age of twenty-two, becoming the youngest person ever elected a member of a parochial board. He served as chair of this board from 1933 and 1939. In addition, Burke was one of the early members of the PNP, one of Jamaica's two major political parties. Although he ran unsuccessfully as the PNP candidate for Western Saint Thomas in 1944, he was later selected by the PNP to sit on the Legislative Council, where he remained from 1951 to 1962. Burke was also appointed to serve as minister without portfolio in the Executive Council from 1955 until this body became the cabinet in 1962. He served as a senator between 1962 and 1967.

Burke was accorded many honors, including the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1957. There is also a trophy given in his name at the annual Denbigh All Island Agricultural Show held in Clarendon. This agricultural show, which Burke was responsible for setting up, remains an annual feature on the Jamaican cultural calendar.

Before entering public life, Burke became a Champion Class One athlete in 1916 and successfully led Jamaica College's cricket, football, and track teams. In 1921 he married Edna Hermina Ramsey, with whom he had two sons and four daughters. Burke was an Anglican and a Master of the Saint Thomas Masonic Lodge. His numerous roles attest to his commitment to Jamaica's political, social, and agricultural welfare. His illustrious career has been a great legacy for the island's agricultural sector and Jamaica's small farmers, for whom Burke worked assiduously and whose interests he represented for decades.