'National treasure': One of the last surviving Windrush pioneer Alford Gardner dies aged 98
One of the last surviving passengers of the Empire Windrush, Alford Gardner, has died aged 98.
Tributes have flooded in for Jamaican Second World War veteran who passed away on Tuesday.
He was among the hundreds of Caribbean nationals who came to Britain in 1948 to help fill post-war labour shortages.
In a statement, Mr Gardner's children said they were proud of "all he achieved and the impact he made".
"He was a true pioneer, a member of a generation of West Indian men and women to whom the country owes so much," the statement read.
"And yet he found it amusing that a barefooted boy with big dreams growing up in rural Jamaica would be celebrated by communities, the nation and royalty alike.
"He approached it all with humility and humour but never shied away from mentioning the struggles for equality and fairness as well as the happier times too."
The Jamaica Society Leeds wrote on X: "A proud Jamaican, and part of a generation who helped to rebuild postwar Leeds and Britain we owe him more than a tweet can say.
"Thank you Mr Gardner. For everything."
Speaking to ITV News, Windrush campaigner Patrick Vernon praised Mr Gardner's legacy and labelled him a "national treasure, not just in Leeds and Yorkshire".
Vernon said he was a "national treasure, not just in Leeds and Yorkshire".
He said on X: "One of the last Empire Windrush passengers has gone to the ancestors. Alford was always full of hope and aspiration. RIP."
Gardner's arrival in Britain
Gardner was 22 years old when he and his brother, Gladstone, boarded The HMT Empire Windrush in Kingston, Jamaica.
The ship docked at Tilbury in Essex, carried a total of 492 passengers from various Caribbean islands, including Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
This was not Gardner’s first time in Britain.
He had first arrived as a teenage RAF recruit just three days before D-Day in 1944 and later survived the harshest British winter in living memory in 1947.
While most passengers on the Windrush paid a £28 fare (equivalent to £1,040 today) to travel directly to London from Tilbury, Gardner went north.
He took a train to Leeds and lived there for the past seven decades, raising five daughters and three sons, and welcoming 16 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.
He also founded the UK's first Caribbean Cricket Club, which became a vital hub for the local West Indian community during the 1950s and 1960s.
In 2018, he told ITV News that knowing what lay ahead in Britain, he would still choose to embark on the Windrush journey, saying: “If I had to do it again, I would do every damn thing just the same
A man honoured by the King and the Prince of Wales
In October last year, Mr Gardner was honoured by the Prince of Wales for his efforts to break down racial barriers.
Prince William visited him at his home in Leeds before surprising him with a party at Headingley cricket ground, attended by cricketing stars.
On Wednesday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) described Mr Gardner as a "trailblazer" on X.
It said: "A founder of Leeds Caribbean CC, and someone who did so much for the Black cricketing community in this country. Rest in peace, Alford Gardner.
"Our thoughts are with his friends and family, and everyone at Leeds Caribbean CC."
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He was one of 10 trailblazers from the early Windrush generation whose portrait was commissioned by King Charles in 2023.
The portrait featured in the BBC’s special, Windrush: Portraits of a Generation, which aired that year to mark the 75th anniversary of Windrush.
Earlier this year, he was presented with the Leeds Award by the local council, for his "vast achievements and contribution" to the city.
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