Famous Jamaicans

Chriss Leon She was born c. 1941-1942 Early on the morning of Friday the 2nd, Jamaican Chriss Leon, who had been selected as Miss Jamaica for Miss World 1961 and who was living in London working as a typist at the time, went to the Waldorf Hotel, venue of the contest. When she introduced herself as Miss Jamaica, the managers looked for her on the list and, obviously, her name did not appear. Then she explained that she had arrived by boat in Southampton a year before but her chaperone had not allowed her to disembark to participate and that she had to return to her country, but that she was still Miss Jamaica.

Sheila Mechtilde (née Chong) Henriques was born on July 11, 1935 in Kingston Jamaica. She is a woman of Chinese, Scottish and African heritage. Born Catholic, she converted to Judaism when she married (1). Sheila M. Chong Sheila Chong was crowned Miss Jamaica World 1959, she was placed in the Top 11 of finalists (2). She married into the famous Henriques family, Anglo-Jewish in origin. The family progenitor was Moses Henriques of Kingston, Jamaica, who married Abigail Quixano in 1768. (3) Her daughter, Anna Ruth Henriques, wrote a biographical novel of her mother's life titled "Book of Mechtilde" (4) She died on  October 31, 1978 after a battle with breast cancer (1). Sources: (1) https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-27-me-36649-story.html (2)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_World_1959 (3)  https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/henriques#:~:text=HENRIQUES%20(Quixano%20Henriques%20)%2C%20Anglo,as%20a%20...