There are many ways we can demonstrate the pre-Windrush Black presence in Britain, regular contributor, John Ellis, shows three of them in a series of articles just published on this site.
The criminal justice system
An increasing number of historic records from the criminal justice system are being digitised and made available online. John has utilised the records from Newgate Gaol and the Old Bailey in earlier articles, now he turns his attention to Dorchester Prison for the years 1782 to 1901. From the records kept by the jailers, John has identified almost fifty inmates who passed through the doors of the jail who were ‘of colour’. This is, of course, a tiny proportion of the total number of prisoners. As you would expect a variety of crimes were recorded against the names. The most common (eighteen cases) was ‘vagrancy’, something we would refer to now as ‘rough sleeping’. These ‘vagrants’ were most probably men tramping across the county in search of work but ‘rough sleeping’ had been criminalised by the Vagrancy Act of 1824 and these men were found guilty of it.
One of the prisoners had been found guilty of blasphemy. This was Robert Wedderburn. He was closely associated with a group plotting to overthrow the Government, the plot, known as the Cato Street conspiracy, was betrayed by an informer and five of the conspirators went to the gallows in May 1820. Wedderburn could very well have been one of them had he not been arrested in November 1819 and held without trial in Newgate for two months before being transferred to Dorchester in May 1820. His time locked up in prison, just a few miles away from the site of the conspiracy, probably saved his life.
By identifying the names of these men, John has opened the door to further research by those interested in tracing their ancestors, researching local history or doing academic research.
https://www.historycalroots.com/black-or-of-colour-inmates-at-dorchester-prison-1782-to-1901/
Royal Navy pension records
Royal Navy pension records are another invaluable source as they often use ‘black’ or ‘of colour’ as descriptive terms for men who served. John has written many articles utilising these records and, in his latest, he introduces us to the career of George Barton. Born in Jamaica, possibly in 1896, how he came to be in the Royal Navy is not known but he went on to serve on at least fourteen ships between 1814 and 1834. He served in a range of roles but mostly as a cook. When not at sea he lived in Portsmouth and it was here that he married once and possibly twice.
On 3rd September 1839, he married Amelia Bowers at St. Mary’s church, Portsea.[1]https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FPORTSMOUTH%2FMAR%2F00065069%2F1&tab=this The record shows him to be a ‘widower’ which clearly suggests he had been married before although the identity of his first wife cannot be established with certainty. Amelia was a widow. Interestingly, the 1851 census shows her birthplace as Jamaica and George and Amelia are both designated as ‘people of colour’. At the time of the census they had four children.
https://www.historycalroots.com/george-barton-of-jamaica-and-portsea/
British Army service and pension records
British Army service and pension records are another invaluable source and John has identified many Black soldiers using these records. His latest ‘find’ is Huntley Hugh Lecesne who served during the First World War, initially with the Middlesex Regiment before transferring to the Machine Gun Corps. What is particularly interesting about him is that in November 1915 he paid his own fare to cross the Atlantic and enlist in Britain.
He was not the only man to take matters into his own hands when it came to joining the fray. Early in 1915, frustrated at their inability to enlist in the Caribbean, seven men stowed away on the SS Danube bound for England with the intention of enlisting when they landed. Once the ship was at sea they were discovered and agreed to work their passage for the remainder of the voyage. But when they landed, they were arrested and taken to court where the magistrate proceeded to denigrate and mock them. They were remanded for a week and then shipped back to the Caribbean. What became of them is hard to establish, however, the historian David Olusoga has tracked down Royal Navy service records for three of them and two of them received the Mercantile Marine Medal awarded for service in hostile waters.[2]‘Black and British: A Forgotten Story’ (p.433) by David Olusoga, Macmillan, 2016 Private Lecesne was fortunate to have been received rather more warmly when he arrived.
He survived the war and tried to reclaim the cost of his fare but the War Office was having none of it! He returned to Jamaica where he married at least once and fathered at least one child. Sadly he died of heart disease at the age of thirty-six with the cause of death shown as ‘aortic regurgitation and exhaustion’.
John’s articles continue to cast light on the Black presence in Britain that long pre-dates the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948.
References
| ↑1 | https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FPORTSMOUTH%2FMAR%2F00065069%2F1&tab=this |
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| ↑2 | ‘Black and British: A Forgotten Story’ (p.433) by David Olusoga, Macmillan, 2016 |
The question of where Olaudah Equiano / Gustavus Vassa was born has long been a subject of scholarly debate. There is conflicting evidence pointing to an area in modern-day Nigeria and the slave plantations of South Carolina. I recall being challenged on this when I was taking people round an exhibition in London.
