Judiciary hails life and legacy of 'transformational' jurist Ena Collymore-Woodstock

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes says the legacy of Ena Collymore-Woodstock lives on “in every courtroom where a woman now presides,” as the judiciary pays tribute to the pioneering jurist and World War II veteran who died on Tuesday.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the judiciary described her as an exceptional legal mind whose courage, intellect and decades of service helped open pathways for generations of women in the justice system.

“Today, we honour a visionary jurist and trailblazer whose courage, integrity, and unwavering sense of duty helped to reshape the very character of our judiciary," said Sykes. “Her legacy resonates in every courtroom where a woman now presides, and in the heart of every Jamaican who witnesses justice administered with fairness and without fear or favour.”

President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Marva McDonald Bishop also reflected on Collymore-Woodstock’s national impact. “Her legacy is not confined to the courts she presided over, but lives on in the culture she cultivated - a judiciary that prizes talent, integrity, and excellence above all else,” she said. “She was a true architect of transformation.”

Collymore-Woodstock, Jamaica’s first female resident magistrate (now parish court judge), died at age 108. Born in Spanish Town, St Catherine, in September 1917, she attended Central Branch School and St Hugh’s High School before beginning a career that would span more than eight decades of public service.

Her service to the courts began on May 11, 1937, when she joined as a temporary clerk, serving in Spanish Town, Half-Way-Tree, St Ann’s Bay and the Civil Division. She later became a typist in the Resident Magistrate’s Court (Criminal Division) and worked there until 1943.

That year, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army, during World War II. She became the first West Indian and Britain’s first Black female radar operator, and is recognised as Britain’s oldest surviving female Second World War veteran. She served both in England and Belgium, helping to coordinate counter-attacks against enemy aircraft.

After the war, Collymore-Woodstock trained as a barrister at Gray’s Inn in London and was called to the bar in 1948. She returned to Jamaica and continued her rise through public service, serving as Assistant Crown Solicitor and later becoming Deputy Clerk of Courts for Kingston.

On August 7, 1959, Collymore-Woodstock made history again when she was appointed Jamaica’s first female resident magistrate, serving in Kingston’s Civil Division until her retirement in 1977. During her judicial career, she chaired the Juvenile Court, later became Senior Resident Magistrate, and after retirement undertook judicial assignments in the Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla.

The judiciary noted that women now form the majority of Jamaica’s judiciary, a reality built on the foundation Collymore-Woodstock helped.

Among her national and international honours were the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican Government and the Order of the British Empire from the United Kingdom. The Jamaica Defence Force also paid tribute to her, describing her career as stellar and distinguished.

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