Edward Richards

Sir Edward Trenton "ET" Richards (4 October 1908 – May 1991) was the first Black Bermudian to head the government of Bermuda and the first Premier of Bermuda. He was the leader of the United Bermuda Party (UBP) between 1971 and 1973. He was a vocal critic of segregation. British Guiana (now Guyana), the youngest of three siblings. After his mother died while he was an infant, he was raised by his father and grandmother. He trained as a teacher in Georgetown, and in 1930, at the age of 21, he joined his sister Pearl in Bermuda, where he taught mathematics, Latin and games at the Berkeley Institute. He also worked as associate editor of the Bermuda Recorder, and on its pages made known his opposition to segregation. Richards was called to the UK bar in 1946

Political life

In 1968, he was appointed Deputy Government Leader and Deputy Leader of the UBP. In December 1971, he became Bermuda's first black Government Leader. In 1973, The Constitution Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Act 1973 changed the Government Leader's title to Premier.

In June 2015, Richards and Gladys Morrell were named National Heroes of Bermuda.

Family

In 1940, Richards married Madree Williams, with whom he had three children. who now lives in London, England, with her children and grandchildren. His younger daughter is the writer Angela Barry, who remains in Bermuda with her children and grandchildren.