McLaughlin was born in
Mobile, Alabama in 1928. In 1945 she started working for the
Government of the Cayman Islands, and when they received a constitution, she was made the clerk. During her career, her expertise was used in other parliaments. She worked at the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom,
Stormont House, and in the government offices of
Grenada and
Trinidad and Tobago. In February 1991, she was appointed the First Speaker to the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly. This was the Cayman Islands first woman speaker and this was achieved before the UK or the USA had their first woman speaker. She insisted that her sons gained a good education and every Sunday she would attend the South Sound Presbyterian Church where she played the organ. She was also one of the founding members of the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Rotary Sunrise Club, and the Cayman Islands Tennis Club. On 10 May 2022, she died at her son's home in
South Sound. Sybil McLaughlin
lay in state at the House of Parliament in the Cayman Islands on the 19th of May. Her funeral was attended the following day. ==References==