John George Melvin Compton was born to Ethel Compton (a Saint Lucian) on 1^st May 1926 in Canouan, St. Vincent.

After completing his Primary School education in St. Vincent his mother returned to Saint Lucia where she had many relatives. She sent her young son to the Castries Intermediate School and St. Mary’s College so that he could acquire a solid Secondary education.

Like many other young, ambitious St. Lucians of that time John went on to Curacao to work in the oil refinery to save enough to acquire a Tertiary education. After spending some time in Curacao he returned to St. Lucia briefly and then proceeded to the United Kingdom in 1948 where he studied at both the University of Wales and the University Of London School Of Economics.

Armed with a Bachelor of Law degree, he returned to St. Lucia in 1951 and was called to the Bar on 7^th August 1951. He started his career as a barrister but was soon drawn to the political arena where momentous charges were taking place particularly with the introduction of Universal Adult Suffrage and the rise of organized Trade Unions.

During the 1954 election Mr. Compton ran as an Independent for the Dennery/Micoud seat which he won convincingly over his three Opponents. With the creation of the Committee system after the 1954 elections he was made Member for Social Affairs and remained on the executive until 1956 - the year the Ministerial System was introduced.

During the sugar strike of 1957 Mr. Compton was intimately involved with the St. Lucia Workers’ Union and the protest against the inhuman conditions and low wages of the field workers. In July 1957, when the strike was over Mr. Compton was convicted before a Magistrate’s Court on two charges - One under the Trade Unions and Dispute Ordinance for “Unlawfully besetting the approach to La Caye estate” and another for obstructing the use of a public highway to deprive the public of the benefit of using it. Mr. Compton’s part in the sugar strike won him much political popularity in Dennery and Micoud, which lasted through the years.

Meanwhile Mr. Compton had joined the St. Lucia Labour Party and during its 1957 convention he was elected Deputy Political Leader with Mr. George Charles as Political Leader and Mr. Maurice Mason as Secretary.

Mr. Compton was victorious during the 1957 elections which he won on a Labour Party ticket and was made Minister for Trade and Production. Again during General elections of 1961 Mr. John Compton won on a Labour ticket but internal wrangling over the appointment of ministers resulted in Mr. John Compton, Mr. Maurice Mason and Dr. Vincent Monrose going over to the Opposition benches at the first meeting of the House of Assembly after the 1961 General elections.

Shortly afterward Mr. Compton together with Mr. Maurice Mason and Dr. Vincent Monrose formed a new Party called The National Labour Movement (N.L.M) which was short-lived because in 1964 the N.L.M. joined with the People’s Progressive Party (P.P.P.) to form the United Workers’ Party (U.W.P.). In the election which followed in 1964 the United Workers Party swept the polls and Mr. John Compton became Saint Lucia’s second Chief Minister.

On March 1^st 1967 Mr. Compton guided St. Lucia into Statehood in Association with Britain and he became Saint Lucia’s Premier. In 1967 he married Janice Barbara Clarke the daughter of Saint Lucia’s first Saint Lucian born Governor, Sir Frederick Clarke. Out of this union five children were born Janine, Shawn, Maya, Fiona and Nina.

On February 22^nd 1979 Mr. Compton became Saint Lucia’s first Prime Minister when the island attained full independence from Britain.

During 1979 - 1982 Mr. Compton was Leader of the Opposition when the St. Lucia Labour Party held the reins of power.

In 1982 Mr. Compton again became Prime Minister when the U.W.P. swept the S.L.P. out of office.

Having been successful at the polls in 1982, 1987, 1992, Mr. Compton held on to the post of Prime Minister until January 1996 when he handed over the leadership of the U.W.P. to Dr. Vaughn Lewis who then served not only as the Political Leader of the Party but also Prime Minister. Mr. Compton continued to serve in the Government as Senior Minister.

In January 1997 Mr. Compton was honoured by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with a Knighthood for his dedication and service in the arena of politics in Saint Lucia.

Sir John returned to active politics in 2006 having regained the leadership of the U.W.P. and in December of that year led his party to victory against the S.L.P. which was headed by a much younger Dr. Kenny D. Anthony. His victory was short-lived however, since he passed away on 7^th September 2007 and was buried on 18^th September 2007.