James Desmond Buckle (29 March 1910 – 25 October 1964) was a political activist, journalist, trade unionist and Communist born in the British colony of the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). Described as "an African communist in Britain", he may have been the first African to join the British Communist Party.
Early life and family
James Desmond Buckle was born on 29 March 1910 to Vidal James Buckle and Ellen Konadu Buckle in Accra in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). Born into the local elite, Buckle's parents were both educated in Britain, and he received a very privileged childhood, even by British standards at the time. His father, Vidal James Buckle, was a wealthy lawyer and his mother, Ellen Konadu Buckle, was a member of the prominent Bannerman family. His mother was a descendant of James Bannerman, a British merchant who served as the Governor of the Gold Coast in the 1850s. Buckle's grandfather was Sir James Buckle, a well-to-do merchant who traded between Freetown in Sierra Leone and Accra in the Gold Coast. Sir James Buckle was married into the prominent Palmer family, whose descendants were of African origin in the West Indies. Desmond Buckle's ancestry traces back to the Sierra Leone Creole, who returned to West Africa after undergoing enslavement in the United States. Buckle was born the second of five children.
In 1920, his father died at the age of 33, when Desmond was just 10 years old. Following this, Ellen Buckle sent all her children to Britain to boarding-school. Desmond was sent to Truro College in Cornwall. During this time his relationship with his mother deteriorated, as he wished to complete his studies in the Gold Coast while his mother wished for him to study in Britain, a common practice for many wealthy families in the Gold Coast at the time. Desmond's younger brother's death of pneumonia in London was also a factor in Desmond's desire to return to the Gold Coast. His relationship with his family was essentially severed until the 1960s, in which he was reunited with them in London. Initially this rift was due to concerns over education, but later Desmond's affiliation with communism shocked his predominantly bourgeois family. At the age of 18 in 1928, Buckle began to study medicine at University College London but was unable to finish his studies due to a lack of financial support from the government and family.
Political activism
Buckle has been described by comrades as a "Lifelong fighter for colonial freedom" and was well renowned among African and West Indian revolutionaries. Despite not being well known in the public sphere, Buckle's activism was internationally recognised. At the time of Buckle's death, the then President of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe, sent a message to his funeral stating that Buckle was someone who "passionately believed in human freedom and devoted his life to its realization, not only in Africa but in all corners of the earth".