Lemuel Hurlston retired in 1995 after 26 years of service, rising through promotions to the position of Chief Secretary and Deputy Governor, one of the highest posts in the Cayman Islands Government. He was appointed an official member of the Legislative Assembly in 1986 at the relatively young age of 35. He retired from the civil service at the age of 44. Now, twenty-one years into semi-retirement and 65 years of age, he has decided to write this autobiography.
He was the Deputy Financial Secretary when Vassel Johnson, later Sir Vassel, retired in 1982 and had been one of the research analysts for the publication of The Cayman Islands Economic and Financial Review (1982), covering data for the early years of 1904-1981. Johnson was a mentor for Hurlston.
Active in community service, Mr. Hurlston is a past President of the Kiwanis Club of Grand Cayman, a past Chairman of the National Council of Voluntary Organizations, and President of the Justices of the Peace Association. He is also a founding member of the Civil Service Credit Union and served for several terms as its Treasurer and President. He has also served as the Cayman Islands representative for the British Executive Service Overseas (BESO) and served as a Councillor for the Chamber of Commerce between 1998-2000. Since 2011, he has been appointed the Honorary Representative of the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Cayman Islands, succeeding the Honourable Justice Charles Quin QC. He chaired the committee that in 2011 carried out a review of the (UK) 1999 White Paper, “Partnership for Progress and Prosperity,” and served as Vice Chairman of the committee that planned the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. In 2011, he became a director of the non-profit Bridge Foundation, providing transitional housing to Caymanians in recovery that are in need of a halfway house. He chaired the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee, appointed in 2014. He was appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of the University College of the Cayman Islands in April 2015. Mr. Hurlston is a Trustee of Saint George’s Anglican Church. He was educated at Calabar High School, Jamaica, and Wandsworth College, London. Married to Marcia, the Hurlstons are parents to two children, John Paul and Kendra, and they have three grandchildren, Jaida, Hailee and Zoe.
