Yesterday, the penitential tone of Ash Wednesday took on a solemnity of Good Friday when I learned of the passing of Susan Belgrave Matheson FRSA. I wept. However, any questioning of the fairness of life was assuaged by the knowledge that her parents got to her bedside just in time and our reminder in Lent that God too felt the sting of death.
My immediate reaction was to make contact with her children and parents to convey profound condolences on the passing of this unsung heroine. Next, I felt it appropriate to share a glimpse of this phenomenal woman with fellow Barbadians.
Susan was destined to make a mark on the world. She entered the world not only much loved but bestowed with the wealth of her parents. Their richness was not material but intangible, that for which past generations of Barbadians were renowned: pride, industry and a knowledge and love of God.
My initial knowledge of her came through her father – Sir Elliot who I had the distinct pleasure of knowing through an informal fraternal gathering that took place on Fridays at South Ridge. She was the apple of his eye. Susan and I would subsequently become well acquainted when I took up the post of High Commissioner at London.
A graduate of Queen’s College, Heriot-Watt, UWI, and the LSE, among others, this international relations and language specialist would migrate from an initial career in foreign affairs to the law. Making her home in the UK, Susan became a much-respected employment lawyer (Barrister) specialising in workers discrimination. She appeared in a number of high profile discrimination claims.
Having made a success of herself, she did not rest on her laurels but sought to ensure the advancement of others. She was a Champion of the campaign to celebrate the Centenary of Women in Law in the UK, a Trustee in the British Foundation for the University of the West Indies, and also a volunteer teacher and mentor, assisting Afro-Caribbean youth to advance in the UK education system. I thank her for her support of my son’s interest in the law.
For her outstanding achievement in social progress and development in Britain, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Her natural abilities and that sense of compassion inherited from her parents were complemented by the resilience forged with the death in 2003 of her husband, Ambassador Dr James Matheson, a career Guyanese diplomat. Her faith and perseverance would see her cope with that loss and her own health challenges to raise successfully a daughter and son whose achievements gave her considerable pride and joy, in her usual modest way.
Susan epitomised that written in 2 Timothy 4:7-8: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness…”
To her children, Alicia and Richard and her parents, Their Excellencies Sir Elliot and Lady Belgrave, our prayers, support and love are with you. Condolences also to her many friends and colleagues. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
Guy Hewitt serves as a parish priest in South Florida.
