JOHN DOUSE
I was born in Thatchwalk, St. Ann, Jamaica. The first school I attended was Clarksonville. The distance from home to school was about six to ten miles. I had to walk back and forth every day. When I first attended school, I did very well. Eventually, my father wanted me to work with him and so then my attendance at school became poor. My education fell apart for me at this early point in my life.
My father passed away when I was twelve years old. He appointed two people outside the family as the executors of his estate. We lost most of the estate to them. I went to live with them. I attended school, but it was not a good experience. At seventeen, I went to Kingston to look for a job as a gardener. I met a first cousin and talked to him about jobs. He was working in a machine shop as an apprentice. I asked him if could learn a trade at that shop too. About one week later, he told me yes.
It was a Monday morning when I went to look for work. There wasn't an opening in the machine shop, but there was one in the paint shop. I went for it. After three weeks on the job, I received one shilling and six-pence for my bus fare. My oldest brother, Rupey, owned a grocery store where I worked part-time, too. My brother and my sister took care of my eating and living expenses.
At the grocery store, I was very friendly with the customers. One man was named Carlton. I told him about my job in the paint shop. About one week later, Carlton and another man named Wally got me a job at the Kingston Industrial Garage.