{{Short description|Jamaican politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | honorific_suffix = OJ CD QC MP | name = Headley Washington Cunningham | image = | caption = | constituency_MP = | parliament = | term_start = 1989 | term_end = 1993 | predecessor = | successor = | office2 = | term_start2 = 1989 | term_end2 = 1993 | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = {{birth date|1929|10|12}} | birth_place = Darliston, Westermoreland, Jamaica | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|09|22|1929|10|12}} | party = People's National Party | spouse = | profession = Lawyer | office = | state = | speaker = 8th | state_house = Jamaica | speaker_office = }} '''Headley Washington Cunningham''', {{post nominals|country=JAM|list=OJ}} (12 October 1929{{spaced ndash}}22 September 2018) was a Jamaican politician. A member of the People's National Party, he was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1989 to 1993.
==Early life== Cunningham was born on 12 October 1929 in Darliston, Westermoreland, Jamaica, the youngest of three children to Frank and Estella (''née'' Maxwell). He was educated at Cornwall College in Montego Bay, St James, after which he found employment as an accountant at the Kingston-based Public Works Department. Cunningham subsequently left for England to study law.<ref name=gleaner>{{cite news|url=http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20181026/headley-cunningham-hailed-man-impeccable-integrity|title=Headley Cunningham Hailed As A Man of Impeccable Integrity|date=25 October 2018|newspaper=Jamaica Gleaner|first=Christopher|last=Thomas}}</ref>
==Career== Returning from England, Cunningham became president of the Cornwall Bar Association. He entered electoral politics in 1989, when he was elected as a member of parliament. From 1989 to 1993, he was Speaker of the House of Representatives. From 1992 to 1993, he sat on the executive committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, of which he was vice-chairperson. In 1998, Cunningham became a member of the Privy Council of Jamaica.<ref name=gleaner/>
==Death== Cunningham died on 22 September 2018 aged 88, after struggling with health issues.<ref name=gleaner/> Official funerary rites were conducted by the government of Jamaica on 25 October at the Mount Carey Baptist Church in Anchovy, St James. Cunningham was buried on the same day at the church cemetery.<ref name=jis>{{cite web|url=https://jis.gov.jm/official-funeral-for-headley-cunningham/|title=Official Funeral for Headley Cunningham|first=Judith|last=Hunter|date=22 October 2018|publisher=Jamaica Information Service|accessdate=31 July 2020}}</ref>
==Recognition== In 2007, Cunningham was awarded the Order of Jamaica (OJ) for "outstanding service in the field of Law".<ref name=jis/>
==See also== * List of speakers of the House of Representatives of Jamaica
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Headly}} Category:Speakers of the House of Representatives of Jamaica Category:Members of the Order of Jamaica Category:People's National Party (Jamaica) politicians Category:Cornwall College, Jamaica alumni Category:1929 births Category:2018 deaths