Audrey jeffers

We’re recognizing the contributions of Audrey Jeffers, the first woman to be elected to the Port of Spain Municipal Council and the first woman to sit on the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago.
Born on February 12th 1898 in Trinidad, Audrey Layne Jeffers was a prominent social worker and an activist. As a young girl, she attended the Tranquility Girls’ School in Port of Spain, and continued her studies in social science abroad.
During World War I, she treated soldiers from the Caribbean and West Africa, eventually establishing an organization called the West Indian and West African Soldiers’ Comfort Fund to continue these efforts.
In April 1921, she became one of the founding members of the Coterie of Social Workers, which provided social services in Trinidad. With the Coterie, Jeffers played a major role in the institution of several free breakfast sheds, including the Children’s Breakfast Centre in Port of Spain. Jeffers also helped to establish the St. Mary’s Home for the Blind (which was named after her mother, Ms. Mary Jeffers), as well as the Maud Reeves Hostel for Working Girls.
In 1929, Jeffers represented Trinidad and Tobago at the International Council for Women in London, where she was one of two representatives of colour. Upon her return to Trinidad, she opened the Workingmen’s Dining Shed in South Quay.
In October 1936, she became the first woman to be elected to the Port of Spain Municipal Council and in 1946, the first woman to sit on the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago.
Jeffers also sat on the Franchise Committee in 1945, where she shocked many by voting against universal adult suffrage (the right to vote). Her lack of support in this moment has been described as a misstep in her career. It did not, however, prevent universal adult suffrage from being instituted in Trinidad and Tobago in 1945.
Jeffers received the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1921 and the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 1959 for her contributions to social services in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1958, she was appointed the honourary Consul for the Republic of Liberia.
She passed away on June 24, 1968 and was posthumously awarded the Chaconia Gold Medal for Social Service at Trinidad and Tobago’s first Independence Day Award Ceremony in 1969.
The Audrey Jeffers Highway, which runs from Port of Spain to Cocorite, and the Audrey Jeffers School for the Deaf in San Fernando, were both named in her honour.
This photo of Audrey Jeffers and the corresponding article, “Miss Audrey Jeffers: Trinidad Social Worker'' by J. D. R. are both courtesy of the Trinidad Guardian, published on September 2nd 1934. This newspaper is part of the NATT Newspaper Collection.
References: Khan, Nasser. Profiles, Heroes, Role Models and Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago: Celebrating Our 50 Years of Independence 1962-2012. First Citizens Bank, 2012.
Lopez, Suzanne, and Rhona Baptiste. The 90 Most Prominent Women in Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad Express Newspapers, 1991.

Source:  National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago, February 17,2021