This Tribute was kindly sent to the Family by the St. Hugh's Past Students Association - from Ms. Gweneth Davidson. Much appreciated.
May 21, 2021
We sadly share with our community that Swan Judith Grace Hamilton died on May 14 after an extended illness. The Association has expressed condolences to the family through her sister, Audrey Hamilton, who also attended St Hugh’s.
The family has created a memorial website which is set out below. Do visit and add your own words of comfort to the family and personal recollections of her. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the Sunday Gleaner of May 23.
https://www.forevermissed.com/judith-grace-hamilton/about ABOUT JUDITH
Judith entered St Hugh’s in 1964 from St Hugh’s Preparatory and before that she attended St Jago Preparatory.
During her time at St Hugh’s, Judith immersed herself in many pursuits, especially those that involved reading and literature, but is also remembered as a fast swimmer and sprinter. She had a close friendship with Librarian, Miss Ethel Kingdon, and several teachers: Miss Marjorie McIntosh and Mrs. Pam Edgar Kelly (English); Madame Claire Morgan (French); Flo Martin Julal (Typing); and Hockey coach Miss Rittie. In Form V Judith received the top prize for Typewriting, which was a new subject to the school.
While at St Hugh’s Judith also participated in a play that was written and staged by founder of the Jamaica School of Drama, Dennis Scott, with a cast of students from St Hugh’s and Kingston College.
Judith left school after Form V and worked for the Mayfair Hotel then the law firm, Brandon and Bolton. But her longest term of employment was at the Bank of Nova Scotia where she was a technical writer of procedure manuals.
During the 1970s, she started to expose her poetic writing to audiences, gaining commendation, which led to her entering local writing competitions. Her poem “poem teacha” received the Silver medal in the 1984 festival competition which led to this and other poems being included in the Institute of Jamaica’s anthology, From Our Yard.
Judith was a founding board member of the RCM Music Foundation, which is now the Music Unites Jamaica Foundation.
Judith’s poem, farmer’s prayer, was highlighted in the 2015 series, From Our Poetry Books, of Poet Laureate Mervyn Morris. A recording of that poem is on the poet laureate's website of the National Library of Jamaica
In 2013, Sandberry Press published Judith’s children’s book, The School House, which she wrote for her daughter in 1980. The published edition is dedicated to her grandson.
Throughout her life, Judith kept in touch with St Hugh’s and even used her writing to help to raise funds for the school. In the early 1990s she staged two poetry readings at Alhambra Inn as fund raisers for St Hugh’s. Distinguished Past Student Fae Ellington was a featured performer.
In 2016, she staged a small and acclaimed evening of music and poetry at St Jago de la Vega cathedral in Spanish Town to honour her parents, her parish St Catherine and the church community in which she was raised.
Lifelong St Hugh’s friends include Patsy Kentish Cameron, Fae Ellington, Carolyn Garcia Wint, Janet Roberts, Maureen Ellis Bailey, Lorna and Janet Vassell, Dawn and Carol Lindo.
The St. Hugh's Past Students Association extends condolences to her daughter Michelle Sucklal (Wayne); sister Audrey, brother Ronald, grandchildren Warren and Shanti, and her extended family and friends.
END
Farmers’ Prayer read by Leonie Forbes
https://nlj.gov.jm/poet-laureate-2/Jamaica Journal
https://benjamins.com/catalog/chlel.xv A History of Literature in the Caribbean: Volume 2: English- and Dutch-speaking regions | Edited by A. James Arnold - John Benjamins Publishing Catalog
This history of literature in the Carribean focuses on English- and Dutch-speaking regions. Topics covered include: the anglophone Caribbean; literary development - a contrastive history; genre - a contrastive history; and The Netherlands, Antilles, Aruba, and Suriname.
benjamins.com
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20140823/heart-strings-parents-parish-church Heart Strings for parents, parish, church
The majestic Cathedral Church of St Jago de La Vega, Spanish Town, St Catherine, was the perfect location for an evening of classical music.
jamaica-gleaner.com
https://jamaicatradingnetwork.wordpress.com/2016/11/26/a-poem-by-judith-hamilton/https://jamaicatradingnetwork.wordpress.com/2016/10/09/the-school-house-a-jamaican-story/https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00090030/00041/28j The School-House A Jamaican Story
The School-House A Jamaican Story is a 55 page children’s book that was written by Jamaican author/poet Judith Hamilton for her then nine year old daughter Michelle, because of a dear…
jamaicatradingnetwork.wordpress.com
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