Jessie Burnham

Jessie Irma Sampson Burnham was a Guyanese educator and politician. In 1953 she was elected to the House of [Assembly (British Guiana)|House of Assembly] alongside Janet Jagan and Jane Phillips-Gay, becoming its first female members.

Biography

Burnham grew up on Pike Street in the Kitty district of Georgetown, where her father was a member of the village council and headteacher of the local Methodist school. She trained to be a teacher and worked at the Bedford Methodist school.
In the 1953 [British Guiana general election|1953 elections] to the House of Assembly, Burnham was a candidate of the People's [Progressive Party (Guyana)|People's Progressive Party] in Georgetown Central. She was one of three women elected to the House alongside Janet Jagan and Jane Phillips-Gay, who became the first women in a Guyanese legislature. Her brother Forbes was also elected, and went on to become the first Prime Minister of Guyana. However, Jessie was not re-elected in the August 1957 elections. In October 1957 the siblings left the PPP to establish the People's [National Congress (Guyana)|People's National Congress], with Forbes as leader and Jessie as an assistant secretary. However, she left the party the following year. After rejoining the PPP, she published a booklet in 1964 with the title Beware My Brother.