Hanzel Fitzroy Manners was born in Hull Ground, Gingerland, Nevis in 1944. He received his early education at the Gingerland Boys’ School, the Charlestown Secondary School and the St. Kitts Nevis Grammar School. He later trained as a teacher at the Leeward Islands Teachers’ Training College in Antigua and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History from the University of the West Indies. He spent the early part of his working life in the teaching service and later transferred to the field of business. An Accountant and Banker by profession, he is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB). He was a founding director and first chairman of the Bank of Nevis Limited, serving as a member of its Board of Directors for the first twenty-three years of the life of the Bank.