Draft:Harold A. Young, Ph.D.

Sir Woldrich Harrison Courtenay, KC 15 July 1904–26 June 1982

The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman think about the next generation.” -	James Freeman Clarke (1810-1888)

Sir Woldrich Harrison Courtenay, QC was born in Belize City on July 15, 1904 (pop. 9,969). He was the only child of William Gustavus Courtenay, a police sergeant, and Sarah Goldson, both from Belize City. He attended St. Mary's Primary School and was then tutored variously until age 16, which was the beginning of his lifelong affiliation with public service in Belize. At this young age, he joined the British Honduras Public Service to work in the Legislative and Executive Council’s Secretariat. He remained a civil servant for 17 years, acted on several occasions as Clerk of the Legislative and Executive Councils, and was Secretary-Accountant of the Government  Marketing Agency between 1925 and 1933 and Secretary of the Stann Creek Development Board.

In 1929, he married Josephine Eileen Robinson, and together they had four children - Michael Anthony Courtenay, Hon. Vernon Harrison Courtenay, SC, Derek Basil Courtenay, SC, and Jennifer Ann Courtenay. With his successes in both his professional and family life, a useful, dignified, and complete life lay before him, and might have satisfied a man of lesser mettle in the age of British colonial rule. Despite being promised a promotion to First Class Clerk, Sir Harrison had much bigger ideas.

To fulfill his ever-growing ambitions, he read law in London and was successful in his Bar Finals in 1935, a feat accomplished while he continued work full-time. He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1936, and then, without hesitation, decided to return home. He was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of British Honduras in 1937, an outstanding first for a son of the soil.

That same year, Sir Harrison was offered a post as a customs officer in the southernmost town in the colony, Punta Gorda, but chose to resign from public service and establish his law firm, W.H. Courtenay & Co. Today, this third-generation law firm is Belize's oldest, currently headed by his son, Derek Courtenay S.C. Sir Harrison’s long career is anchored and inextricably intertwined with his practicing law, holding public office and service to the Anglican Church.

It is perhaps in the law and the platform it provided that he enjoyed the fullest flowering of his many talents. He was a brilliant advocate, with an enquiring and original mind and great tenacity of purpose. Among the handful of local law firms, W.H Courtenay and Co. stood out as the best. A room crammed with labeled boxes of his files illustrate the vibrancy of Sir Harrisons practice; no less than 5,000 files have survived since 1937. The firms record show that the very first entry in Ledger #1, was made on March 5, 1937 recording the lodging of a conveyance. Sir Harrison went on to handle a wide range of matters, both civil and criminal, and made many appearances before the magistrate court, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. While he did well as a solicitor, he was an excellent advocate known for tenacity and eloquence. He was respected by judges and both challenged and feared by other attorneys and prosecutors. He was not intimidated when attorneys were brought in from more developed jurisdictions.

By the end of his legal career in 1982, Sir Harrison had established himself as a superior lawyer with the most reputable firm in the country and a prominent public figure. Of the thousands of matters handled by Sir Harrison during his legendary time in practice, none consolidated and encapsulated his legal prowess better than the Queen v. George Cadle Price (1958). The significance of this case is multi-layered. Hon. George Cadle Price was the leader of the Peoples United Party (PUP) agitating for self-government. He, and other leaders of the party, previously had several conflicts with the colonial officials. Sir Harrison was a member of the Honduras Independence Party (HIP) and a member of the Legislative Council. This was a very politically charged case. Mr. Price was very popular, and his indictment on two charges of sedition was viewed by his supporters as an attempt to derail his popularity and that of the PUP. Sir Harrison publicly acknowledged before the trial started that he had received anonymous letters trying to dissuade him from taking this case but did so anyway.

The sedition charges in the Queen v. George Cadle Price (1958) were based on statements made my Mr. Price from the rostrum at a public meeting on March 21, 1958. In describing the ticker-tape parade he witnessed for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in New York City, he told the crowd that the confetti included toilet paper. This reference led to two charges of using seditious words with intent to defame Queen Elizabeth II and, secondly, to bring her name into contempt. The case is famously known as the “toilet paper charges”.

Once he accepted the case, Sir Harrison launched a full-trotted defense. Before the Honorable Simeon Agapito Hassock, he won a reduction in bail. The Attorney General, Mr. H.C. Henville represented the Crown and had his feet held to the fire at every turn. When the trial started on April 16, 1958 before Sir Clifford de Lisle Inniss, Sir Harrison’s procedural acumen and incisive cross-examination of prosecution witness revealed discrepancies and other weaknesses that undermined the credibility of their evidence. The response to the Crown’s case was vigorous. In addition to Mr. Price taking the stand in his own defense, 16 diverse witnesses were called with Sir Harrison’s closing lasting almost three hours.

On April 26, 1958, a nine-man jury acquitted Mr. Price on all charges. He emerged from the Supreme Court with Sir Harrison to thousands of enthusiastic supporters waiting. The Hon. Hector Silva who was present describes the scene this way:

“If you dropped a pin, you could hear it from a distance. The jury was locked about Five in the evening. By Nine PM there was a verdict - "not guilty on all counts. There was a roar at that Park, that will never be heard again in the history of Belize.” Sir Harrison’s aggressive and successful defense of the Honorable George Cadle Price is deeply woven into Belize’s political fabric and Price’s illustrious career, culminating with Belize’s independence in 1981. Hon. George Cadle Price emerged more popular than ever and went on the be premier and then first prime minister of an independent Belize. Though he was a member of the Legislative Council representing a rival political party, Sir Harrison displayed the best traditions of the legal profession in defending Price, his political opponent.

Sir Harrison’s very active public life, both locally and regionally, richly imbues Belizean history. He was elected a Member of the Legislative Council between 1945-1954 and a Member of the Executive Council from 1947-1954. He led the first delegation from the Legislative Council to Colonial Office in London on Constitutional Reform and Economic Development in 1947.

As Constitutional Adviser to United Front political delegation from then British Honduras to London, Sir Harrison participated in constitutional talks in 1960 and 1963, which led to internal self-government in 1964. With the introduction of self-government in 1964, he was unanimously elected the First Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and in 1965, upon the advent of the bicameral legislature, he became by general consent Speaker of the House of Representatives, as position he held until 1974. He was elevated to one of Her Majesty’s Counsel, QC, that same year - another first for Belize.

Internationally, Sir Harrison performed impressively in several leadership roles. A controversial issue at home and in the region, Sir Harrison championed British Caribbean integration. He dedicated his efforts in numerous forums including: Leader of first delegation from Legislative Council to the Colonial Office on Constitutional Reform and Economic Development, 1947. From 1948–51, he was a member of the Standing Closer Association Committee, which produced the first Federal Constitution in the Caribbean, and he served as Chairman of the British West Indian Regional Parliamentary Conference in Jamaica in 1952. On the occasion of the conferral of the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by UWI in 1973, he was described as “one of the small band of men – visionaries, said some – who were instrumental in bringing the University College of the West Indies into being”.

Forever present was the Anglo-Guatemalan dispute over the sovereignty of the colony. From 1962–67, he was the adviser to the then British Honduras delegation to tripartite conferences on the Anglo-Guatemalan Dispute held in Puerto Rico. Although the dispute was never settled, this work, along with his passion for the Caribbean, can be considered a pillar on which Belize built her case for independence in the 1970’s at the United Nations. With the unwavering support of the entire Caribbean, Belize won its independence in 1981.

A lifelong and devout Anglican, Sir Harrison’s roots in the Church were grounded in his parents. His father was among the first group of students St. Mary’s Primary School started by Reverend Fredrick Richardson Murray, who established the school soon after his arrival in Belize City in 1888. Sir Harrison attributes his success and the solid ground for his family to St. Mary the Virgin in a radio address in 1964 in which he recounts his teachers and influencers during his early years. He attended the day school and Sunday school. His devotion continued into adulthood, serving for many years as the Diocesan secretary, treasurer and Member of Synod from 1926–1937. He was Chancellor of the Anglican diocese from 1937 until his retirement in the late 1970s. He also served as Treasurer of the Board of Governors of St Hilda’s College (Now the coed Anglican Cathedral College), the flagship Anglican school for girls.

Sir Woldrich Harrison Courtenay was one of Belize’s most formidable statesmen. To have emerged from his humble start as civil servant to a legal and public influencer at home and in the wider Caribbean region is remarkable. The benefits of his legal work on behalf of thousands of clients is incalculable. No political history of Belize is complete without mention of the legal prowess he displayed in the Queen V. George Cadle Price in 1958. If the outcome of this case had been different, the repercussions for Price and the People’s United Party for political development generally and for the entire colony of British Honduras could have been dire. His legacy in the practice of law, in which he excelled, is secure and lives on through his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.