Gloria Cumper

Gloria Claire Cumper, born Carpenter (1922-1995) was a Jamaican barrister, educationist and social reformer. She was the first black woman to study at the University of Cambridge

Gloria Cumper
Born1922
Died1995
NationalityJamaica
EducationWolmer's School, St Hilda's Diocesan High School, Mary Datchelor School, Girton College
Known forfirst black woman at Cambridge University
Spouse(s)George Cumper
ChildrenPatricia Cumper

Early life and education

Gloria Carpenter was born in Jamaica, the daughter of W. A. Carpenter, a Commissioned Land Surveyor. She was educated at Wolmer's School and St Hilda's Diocesan High School,[1] before moving from Jamaica to England in 1936,[2] where she attended Mary Datchelor School in London. Returning to Jamaica, the outbreak of World War Two made it hard to study for the bar at the London Inns of Court.

She therefore studied for the bar at the University of Toronto, under wartime regulations allowing Caribbean students to study for the bar there.[3] She went on to study law at Girton College in 1945, making her the first black woman to study at the University of Cambridge.[4] At Cambridge she met the future economist George Cumper, and the pair married in the late 1940s.[5][1]

Called to the bar from the Middle Temple on 18 June 1947, Cumper was admitted to practice in Jamaica on 17 July 1948.[6] In 1948 she was appointed a Resident Tutor at the new University of the West Indies,[7] and she helped found the Law Department there.[4]

Gloria Cumper's life was celebrated in a biographical novel, One Bright Child (1998), by her daughter, the playwright Patricia Cumper.[2] Her papers are held at the University of the West Indies, Mona.[8]

Works
  • Survey of social legislation in Jamaica, 1972
  • (with Stephanie Daly) Family Law in the Commonwealth Caribbean, 1979
  • Family law: the Commonwealth experience, 1984

References
  1. Who's Who in Jamaica, 1969.
  2. Cumper, Patricia 1954-., Contemporary Authors. , Encyclopedia.com. Accessed 30 Apr. 2019.
  3. Philip Girard (2015). Bora Laskin: Bringing Law to Life. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-4426-1688-2.
  4. Damien Gayle, Cambridge University exhibition celebrates black graduates, The Guardian, 25 September 2018.
  5. Mark Figueroa, 'George Cumper and the Critical Tradition: Common Themes in post-World War II Caribbean Economic Thought', Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 57. No. 1 (March 208), pp.46-71.
  6. Jackie Ranston (2014). Lawyer Manley: First Time Up. University of the West Indies Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-976-640-082-8.
  7. Douglas Hall (1998). The University of the West Indies: A Quinquagenary Calendar, 1948-1998. University of the West Indies Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-976-640-073-6.
  8. The Library, Mona, 2001.
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