JNF-The-Working-Class-Struggle-of-Half-a-Century

Joseph
Nathaniel
France
was born at Mount Lily, Nevis in 1907. At thirteen he became the office
boy with the St. Kitts-Nevis Universal Benevolent Association He continued
his education through the Union’s night school classes and supplemented
his tiny income by grinding the organ to accompany silent films at
the Apollo Theatre .
In 1921, the UBA started publishing the newspaper The Union Messenger
under the editorial direction of J. M. Sebastian. France was employed as
his printer. He contributed to its daily editions as a reporter, columnist,
and short story writer. After Sebastian’s death in 1944, France became the
editor of The Messenger. He also edited of the Workers’ Weekly from
1942 to 1956 and was a member of the Editorial Board of The Labour
Spokesman. His political interests matured during the 1930s. In 1937 he
was among those campaigning for the right to vote and promoting the
election of Challenger and Manchester to the Legislative Council. In 1940,
the League launched the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union and J.N.
France became its first General Secretary, a position he held till his death
in 1997.
In 1946 France was elected to the Legislature. He served as Member for
Social Services from 1952, and from 1956 as Minister for Social Services.
In 1967, the new hospital was named after him, in honour of the invaluable
services he rendered in this field.
186
France successfully contested nine general elections between 1946 and
1984