Our “Walk Through Time” today will take us on a journey of the life of Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore, politician, oratory genius and first class lawyer

Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore was born on the 15th February 1939. His introduction to school life came through a kindergarten in Half Way Tree run by Mavis White. At five years of age he entered the Middle Island Government School. In 1952 he won a Government Scholarship to the St. Kitts-Nevis Grammar School valued at $50.40 per annum. The scholarship covered all his expenses except uniforms and games fees and although the situation was far from easy, his mother, Miss Daphne Moore was determined that her son would not lose this opportunity to gain an education. Soon after he found himself attracted to the Gospel Hall and became very much involved in the branch at Middle Island. Members of the church described the teenager as the “Wonder Boy Preacher,” or “the little boy with the Big Bible.” By age 14, Moore was teaching a Sunday School class. He organized hikes for young people in his village on public holidays and taught Mathematics at evening classes for members of the Sunday School.
Five years later, young Moore was the recipient of the Leeward Islands Scholarship. Many had hoped that he would have pursued studies in Medicine, but he did not see himself as a doctor and he chose instead to follow a career in Law. He spent eighteen months as Assistant Master at the Grammar School before going to the University of London, King’s College to study law. During the summer vacation he worked at the London Stock Exchange in order to supplement his income. After a short stay in university lodgings, young Moore decided to move in with his mother who had married and moved to England. His oratorical skills produced results when he became Intervarsity Debating Champion for two consecutive years. In 1962 he graduated with an LL.B. upper second-class honours and obtained a Diploma in Theology. He was awarded the Jelf Medal in the Faculty of Law and qualified as an Associate of King’s College. One year later, Lee Moore took his master’s degree and was admitted to the Inner Bar of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple. After further research he took up the post as Lecturer in Law at the City of Birmingham, College of Commerce later renamed the University of Central England, where he left a distinguished teaching record.
In 1967 St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla embarked on the stormy road of Statehood in Association with Great Britain. The international image of the new state was tarnished from the outset by the Anguilla crisis. An effort to recruit promising young men was launched by Fitzroy Bryant. Moore was one of the persons approached. He quit his well paid, comfortable job in England and returned to St. Kitts, to serve as Public Relations Officer to the Premier for a salary of $480 per month. Governor, Sir Fred Phillip, recruited him to teach Law of Tort at his law classes at Government House. He also set up his own private law practice and on the political front he threw his lot in with Young Labour which was just emerging as a vigorous branch of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.
His legal prowess was immediately recognized when in 1967 he defended the implementation of the National Emergency Powers and then successfully argued the legality of those actions before the Privy Council. In 1969 and 1971 he was appointed counsel to The Wooding Commission which investigated the Anguilla affair and to the Commission which enquired into the Christena disaster respectively.
In 1971, he contested his first election in the new State, running in electoral division number 4 which then included the area from Old Road to Sandy Point East. He beat William Herbert, founder-president of The People’s Action Movement by 826 votes to 682. Premier Bradshaw appointed him Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs a position he held until 1979. It was his knowledge of the law that stood him in good stead when he became involved in the negotiations and the drafting of legal instruments that resulted in a second attempt to bring a degree of unity to the Caribbean. In 1973 the Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed launching the Caribbean Community and Common Market. Moore played a significant and memorable role in bringing CARICOM into existence. He was also integrally involved in the creation of the Treaty of Basseterre which brought into being the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States in 1981.
Lee Moore served as second vice president of the St. Kitts-Nevis Trades and Labour Union. Following the death of Comrade Bradshaw in 1978, Moore succeeded him as President of the Union. When Premier Paul Southwell died in St. Lucia on the 18th May 1979, Lee Moore was with him. They were part of the delegation that was preparing the groundwork for, what was to become, the Treaty of Basseterre. As leader of the Party, Moore was immediately called upon to take the helm of Government and embarked on familiarization trips to Barbados, Bahamas, Jamaica, and the USA.
Following the Labour Party victory of 1995, Lee L. Moore was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary non-resident Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In this new role he was responsible for advising Government with regards to the ratification of treaties and conventions and with regards to its position vis a vis other country and the UN. It was in this capacity that he was able to establish diplomatic relations with South Africa in 1998. He was also called upon to be part of a two-person commission to study the mechanisms for bringing about closer political integration between Barbados and the member countries of the OECS.
In September 1999, Moore left St. Kitts for New York where he underwent medical treatment. Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore, KCMG, QC, LL.M died due to his illness on 6th May 2000. He left his mark in St. Kitts and the wider Caribbean through his scholastic abilities, his extraordinary oratorical skills, his devotion to his country and his commitment to regional integration.