Mama Drummond

This is the birth record for Doris Maud Munroe, Don Drummond’s mother. She was born on January 7, 1913 in Flower Hill, a tiny village in the parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica. Today this town only has a population of 2,000 so it is likely that it was much smaller a century ago. It is likely that Munroe was the surname given to the family by their slave masters. The surname Munroe is of Scottish origin so it is likely that the Munroe family was once owned by Scottish landowners. As indicated on this records, Doris’s mother, Hannah Lee Munroe, was a laborer. The person who signs the birth record is Leonard Munroe, but it is not known if he was a husband, father, or brother. What is evident is that the record is signed with an “X the mark of” which means that Leonard was not literate, not uncommon in rural Jamaica in these early days. It was signed in the presence of Iphigenia McKenzie, the registrar of births and deaths for the St. Peters district. Don’s father, Uriah Adolphus Drummond, was born in Westmoreland in a village called Broughton on May 4, 1908. Uriah’s mother, Rhoda, was a labourer. No more is known of Uriah. By the time Doris was to give birth to Don Drummond at age 19, she had moved to Kingston, perhaps to provide for a more modern birth for her son at Victoria Jubilee Hospital and perhaps to seek more job opportunities to provide for her son.