Windrush generation member who settled in Newport turns 100

Mr Leslie Frank Wisdom was born on May 24, 1919, in Lime Hall in the Saint Ann parish of Jamaica.

Mr Wisdom worked for nearly his whole life as a driver in various forms, this all began when he was in his 20s when he was employed by the local water board to drive the water truck for the parish council.

“The truck I drove is probably still in a garage somewhere in Saint Ann,” he said.

“I don’t think anybody used it after me.”

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Around that time, the first fire engines came to the island. Mr Wisdom transferred to the fire service and, given his experience driving the water truck, was sent to pick up one of the first engines to arrive in the capital.

“We had to go to Kingston to get it and we brought it back to Saint Ann,” he said.

“When the people heard it coming, they all said, 'what the hell is that?'"

“They all blocked the road in front of us so they could look at the truck. We drove it all around, everyone was so excited.

“We eventually parked in Saint Ann and a huge crowd formed.”

Mr Wisdom made the journey to the UK in 1958. However, unlike those on the Windrush, he flew over from Kingstone to London – eventually settling in Birmingham.

“My father gave me the money to come over,” he explained.

Due to a lack of work in Birmingham, Mr Wisdom and his family moved south to Newport.

He got a job in the haulage industry, working for Wynn’s, driving up to Caerphilly – among other places.

“I used to like that drive,” he said.

“It was before all the motorways.”

He eventually settled at a job at Llanwern steelworks, where he worked until his retirement.

Mr Wisdom has spent the majority of his life in Newport since moving to the city, moving back to Jamaica for a period in the 1980’s in order to care for his parents.

“It’s nice to have been alive this long,” he laughed.

Mr Wisdom travelled back to the island last year for his 99th birthday, but this weekend, more than 170 guests will join him in Newport for a special party, some coming from as far away as the USA and Jamaica.

“It is very kind of everyone, but I don’t know what the fuss is all about,” he said.