Governor-General The Most Honourable Sir Patrick Allen has appointed Lieutenant Commander John McFarlane Acting Custos Rotulorum for the parish of St. Andrew.
Commander McFarlane’s appointment takes effect December 13, 2015.
As Custos Rotulorum, Commander McFarlane is the Governor-General’s representative responsible for keeping the Roll of the Justices of the Peace, assisting with the maintenance of good order and discipline, and upholding the rule of law in the parish.
Commander McFarlane who has been a Justice of the Peace in St. Andrew for 30 years, has the requisite experience in dealing with minor criminal charges within his jurisdiction.
He has had a distinguished career in the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard and Air Wing, and has served as Aide de Camp to the Most Honourable Sir Florizel Glasspole, former Governor General of Jamaica. Commander McFarlane was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer on August 6, this year, for his Outstanding Public Service and Volunteerism. He is a pianist, organist, violinist and guitarist.
Commander McFarlane replaces Mrs. Donna Parchment Brown who has ascended to the post of Political Ombudsman.
A date for the Swearing-in of the Custos Rotulorum for St. Andrew is to be announced.
Career Synopsis – Lt Cdr John McFarlane, O.D., J.P.
Lt Cdr McFarlane was commissioned as a Naval Officer in the Jamaica Defence Force in 1969, after completing two years of Officer training. Some of the many appointments held during his nearly 25 years with the JDF included service as Aide de Camp to His Excellency the Governor General of Jamaica; Commanding Officer of the JDF Coast Guard; Commanding Officer of the JDF Air Wing; and Staff Officer Administration at The Headquarters of the Jamaica Defence Force. He qualified as a Ship’s Captain; Military and Commercial Pilot; and Naval Diver.
He also served as Director of the Office of Disaster Preparedness; Director of Harbours and Ports Services with the Port Authority of Jamaica; Managing Director of the Transport Authority; and for a short period, General Manager of ATL Automotive Ltd.
As Consultant to the Jamaica Urban Transit Company, he developed and established the Kingston Metropolitan School Bus System in September 1998, and the JUTC’s Eastern Franchise operations in January 1999. He returned as Managing Director of the Transport Authority in 1999. In 2001, he was appointed Managing Director of the Ports Security Corps, for which organization he had played a part in its development in the early 1990s while at the Port Authority of Jamaica.
He served as Executive Director of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica; coordinated the management and deployment of specialist election-day workers for the Electoral Office of Jamaica; and was appointed Director of Aviation Security with the Airports Authority of Jamaica in December 2006. He was appointed as Senior Director Airport Operations in October, 2012.
He was Jamaica’s Delegate to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and has represented Jamaica in several other capacities.
He was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 1985. He is President of the Royal Life Saving Society, Jamaica; Chairman of the Kidney Support Foundation of Jamaica; and Immediate Past President of the St. Andrew Justices of the Peace and Lay Magistrates Association.
He is a Past President of the Jamaica/Western New York Partners of the Americas and the Queen’s Schools’ PTA, and Past Vice President of the Wolmer’s Boys School PTA. He served as Choir Master for the Galilee Gospel Hall, and as the organist and Choir Master for the Annual Convention of the Assemblies of Christian Brethren. He was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer on August 6, 2015 for Outstanding Public Service and Volunteerism.
He is a pianist, organist, violinist and guitarist. He married Deanna Anderson 45 years ago, and they are the parents of four children and nine grandchildren.
Lt Cdr John McFarlane started solo singing in public when he was four years old. The son of one of Jamaica’s leading piano teachers, Mrs. Kathleen McFarlane, he went on to win many medals and awards in the annual Jamaica Music Festival and the Jamaica Speech and Drama Festivals in the late nineteen fifties and throughout the sixties. His formal voice training, which began at Wolmer’s Boys School, and continued at the Jamaica School of Music, was further honed whilst at the Britannia Royal Naval College, in England. He has performed as Guest Soloist with all major choirs in Jamaica, and was the founding tenor soloist with the National Chorale of Jamaica. He has performed in many cities in the United Kingdom and the Americas, and for many distinguished audiences, including members of the Royal Family.