Learie Constantine

Learie Constantine , 1902-71, West Indian cricket player and the first black man to sit in the British House of Lords, b. Trinidad. The son of a sugar plantation foreman, he became world famous as a cricket player in the 1920s and 30s. He settled in England (1929), and after World War II studied law and was called to the bar. Returning to Trinidad, he began a career in public service, first as minister of works and transport and then as Trinidad's high commissioner in London (1962-64). He was knighted in 1962 and raised to the peerage in 1969.