constantine was born in petit valley, a village close to diego martin in north-west trinidad, on 21 september 1901, the second child of the family and the eldest of three brothers. his father, lebrun constantine, was the grandchild of slaves; lebrun rose to the position of overseer on a cocoa estate in cascade, near maraval, where the family moved in 1906. lebrun was famous on the island as a cricketer who represented trinidad in first-class cricket and toured england twice with a west indian team. constantine's mother, anaise pascall, was the daughter of slaves, and her brother victor, was also a trinidad and west indian first-class cricketer; a third family member, constantine's brother elias, later represented trinidad. constantine wrote that although the family was not wealthy, his childhood was happy. he spent a lot of time playing in the hills near his home or on the estates where his father and grandfather worked. he enjoyed cricket from an early age; the family regularly practised together under the supervision of lebrun and victor pascall.