Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: Ko te tama a te tohunga no te Lincolnshire Wolds, i whakauruhia a Garvey ki te karahipi korikori ki Trent College (Long Eaton) i reira ia i ako mai i te 1916 ki te 1923. I uru ia ki Emmanuel College i te Whare Wananga o Cambridge, i reira ia i panui ai i te hitori ka mutu tana tohu B.A. i roto i te tikanga tangata, i a ia e whakarite ana ki te tango i te whakamātautau kaimahi, me te tumanako kia uru atu ki te Indian Civil Service. I uru atu ia ki te takahi i te
1926 general strike, ā, kāore i whai wā ki te ako mō tēnei whakamātautau, ā, i tono ia mō tētahi tūranga i te Ratonga o te Kāwanatanga. I whakaae ia ki tetahi tuunga i te Kaitiaki o nga Moutere o Solomon, ka rere mai i Southampton ki Fiji i te marama o Noema 1926.