Citizen 6156

“Under your magnanimous leadership, our overseas Chinese will unquestionably and sincerely rally to your support in carrying out your lofty ideas under your administration and, I am sure, co-operation on your part will bring forth results beneficial to all parties concerned,” the chairman said, according to one translation of the letter. “While the communist bloc is now instigating class struggles and launching international incursions thus causing unrest to the whole world, the free world is actually facing the crisis of joint disaster or joint happiness.” Some time before, a family photograph of Sir Solomon had been sent to the chairman by a person identified as Chen Chia Hsien. The chairman returned the favour, including his photograph with his letter as a token of remembrance.

Sir Solomon had, months prior, been selected by the British authorities to be the Governor of Trinidad and Tobago, succeeding Sir Edward Bentham Beetham. On November 21, 1959, a confidential telegraph sent to Trinidad by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the British Conservative Party politician Iain Macleod, stated of Sir Solomon, “He is the best man for the job”.

Sir Solomon Hochoy, the last British Governor and first Governor-General of newly independent Trinidad and Tobago, was born, not in Trinidad, but in Jamaica, on April 20, 1905. His family moved to Trinidad when he was two years old, and lived at Blanchisseuse. He worked as a depot keeper in the Government Coastal Steamers Department, joining the Trinidad Port and Marine Department in 1931. Later, he was an industrial adviser’s clerk in 1939 and became a labour officer in 1944. By 1946, he was deputy industrial adviser and three years later he became Commissioner of Labour. He was appointed deputy Colonial Secretary in 1955 and a year after became Colonial Secretary of Trinidad. He was announced as Governor on November 21, 1959, at 2pm Trinidad time.

Sir Solomon’s race was of great significance all over the Commonwealth. The headline in the Waikato Times of New Zealand, declared, “First Coloured Governor Named: Post in Trinidad”. Back home, The Star of Blanchisseuse remarked, “Beginning as an obscure clerk on the waterfront he has risen to the highest office in the land. That makes us aware that it is perfectly possible for each one of us to do the same.” At his swearing-in ceremony on July 14, 1960, Sir Solomon told the Legislative Council, “I am no stranger to you. It is with pride that I claim that I am one of you.”

Members of the press and radio, it seems, loved the new statesman. They recalled having to solicit his assistance in getting news from the harbour during his time as a public servant. At a dinner they held in honour of the new Governor in October 1960 at the Bel Air Hotel, Piarco, Sir Solomon reportedly entertained them with old tales from his school days. “Even Society Editress Jean Minshall did not take notes either,” remarked The Star of Blanchisseuse in its coverage of the event. Though as Governor-General Sir Solomon gave only one press conference, this was still more than all of his successors! At that press conference, in September 1972, one report stated, “Sir Solomon had the large gathering continually in fits during his one-hour interview with his sharp wit.”

But the media were not his only fans. When Sir Solomon retired in 1972, the PNM Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams described him as, “a close friend whose judgments I have learnt to welcome.” Williams further told the Parliament Sir Solomon was, “one who has served his country long, faithfully and well in a difficult period”; “one of the outstanding examples to and the most conspicuous successes of the policy of West-Indianisation of our Public Service”. He praised his, “capacity for unerring judgment”.

Sir Solomon was a member of the Chinese Association in Trinidad, and, reportedly, a prominent member of the Chinese Cricket Club. He was described as an accomplished rider and, as Governor-General, rode with the mounted escort. He was married to Thelma Huggins, who oversaw the formation of the Lady Hochoy Home, which is today still dedicated to assisting children. In August 1969, Lady Hochoy wrote WS Snook about that hospital project, stating Texaco had donated $150,000.

Once Trinidad and Tobago became independent in 1962, Sir Solomon applied for citizenship. His application, dated October 25, 1963, was approved by the Red House on the same day. “Your registration number is 6156,” the Registrar General’s Department wrote in its letter to the Governor-General.

The Solomon Hochoy Highway, built in the 1970s, is named after him. It is today the centre of protests and counter-protests, some based at Gray Street, a stone’s throw away from the British High Commission, St Clair. During its construction, the highway was regarded by some as yet another symbol of the nation’s independence. It inches forward.

Sir Solomon died on November 15, 1983. He lived, in his last years, at Blanchisseuse.