Background
Barrow was born on January 21, 1920, in the parish of St. Lucy. Because of his father's job as an Anglican minister, the family traveled constantly throughout the Caribbean.
Barrow was born on January 21, 1920, in the parish of St. Lucy. Because of his father's job as an Anglican minister, the family traveled constantly throughout the Caribbean.
Barrow began his elementary education at the Primary Danish School in St. Croix. On the family's return to Barbados, he attended the island's elite boys' schools. He graduated from Harrison College in 1939. After graduation he taught for a year in Barbados before volunteering for the war efforts and joining the British Royal Air Force in 1940.
Barrow had a distinguished military record in the Royal during World War 11. He received communications training in Canada and served as a military navigator for the commander in chief of the British army in Germany. He eventually became a flying officer and flew 53 missions during the war. After his discharge from the Royal Air Force in 1947, Barrow enrolled at the London School of Economics, where he pursued a dual degree in economics and political science. Like his Jamaican counterpart, Norman Manley, he was influenced by the economic theories of Professor Harold Laski, which he used later during his political career. While pursuing his undergraduate education he also studied law. In 1949, he graduated from the London School of Economics and passed his legal examination to join the bar at Lincoln's Inn.
Barrow returned to Barbados in 1950. He developed a highly successful legal practice in the area of labor law and traveled the Caribbean representing labor unions in their disputes against their employers. Although he had considerable success as a lawyer, he became attracted to politics and sought the political process as a way to address the social and economic inequities in the island. Barrow joined the Barbadian Labour Party (BLP), founded by Sir Grantley Adams, and was elected to the Barbadian House Assembly in 1951. As a member of the assembly Barrow became frustrated by the regressive and ill-conceived political, social, and economic policies of the BLP. In 1955 he helped to organize the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), which had a more liberal agenda and advocated for major reforms in the government of Barbados. His party lost the parliamentary elections of 1956 and Barrow was unable to return to Parliament. Nevertheless, Barrow stayed active and vocal in Barbadian politics by creating alliances with other dissenting voices within Parliament. He returned to Parliament in 1958 and created alliances with the labor movement and the sugar unions. By 1961, he had become the leader of the DLP and won the 1961 elections with a solid majority of the vote. As a result, he became the premier of Barbados and started a vocal campaign to gain the independence from Great Britain. When Great Britain awarded independence to Barbados on November 30, 1966, Barrow became its prime minister.
Barrow stayed in power as prime minister until 1976, when he was challenged by lorn Adams, the son of Sir Grantley Adams. The elections were highly contested because Adams accused Barrow of being responsible for the economic cri-sis Barbados was currently facing. Even after leaving the prime ministership, he remained involved in the political affairs of Barbados. For instance, he was a vocal critic of the invasion of Grenada by the United States in 1983 and believed that the invasion had profound political implications for the sovereignty and autonomy of other Caribbean countries. Barrow re-entered politics in 1986 and was again elected prime minister. Unfortunately, he died on June 1,1987, before he was able to accomplish any substantial reforms during his second term in office.
Barrow's tenure as prime minister was characterized by vigorous reforms that changed Barbados' social and economic infrastructure and contributed to a substantial development of this Caribbean island. He built strong partnerships with private businesses and sought foreign investors who generated large number of jobs for Barbadians. Barrow teamed up with the industrial sector and developed initiatives to diversify the Barbadian economy. For instance, he supported the creation of the Central Bank of Barbados in 1973 as a way to facilitate the offering of incentives to businesses and industry. Although he believed that Barbados could not exclusively rely on the tourism industry, as many other Caribbean nations do, he set mechanisms in place to bolster tourism. He is credited with strengthening the Barbadian educational system and making education accessible to all. He also developed a social welfare system that cared for the Barbadian poor and disenfranchised.
As prime minister of Barbados, Barrow also worked hard to make the island a political leader within the West Indies. He worked closely with the governments of other Caribbean islands while maintaining excellent relations with Great Britain and the United States, who he considered his strongest allies. Under his leadership, Barbados joined the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations. Barrow thought that Barbados could play an essential role in the economic development of other Caribbean nations and also believed that it could transcend the Caribbean and play a role in the international arena. This belief was proven correct many years later when his sister Nita became a high-profile diplomat representing Barbados in the United Nations. Errol Barrow was one of the early proponents of the creation of the Caribbean Community (CARTCOM) organization. CARICOM has worked to bring the West Indian islands into a common economic market since 1968.