roots1937

Being for the benefit of Mr Kite

Here at Historycal Roots we often say that Black History is all around us, we just need to know where to look.

Bill Hern was wandering around the Victoria and Albert Museum last week, he writes that he came across a display of old posters from the entertainment industry. One was advertising a circus in 1843. There was no commentary attached to it, it was simply an interesting old poster. Yet if we delve slightly more deeply, we will learn about a black circus owner and even make an unlikely link between him, his circus and a Beatles’ record from 1967.

Most people of my age can remember the very first LP they bought. Younger readers may not know what an LP is (it is an acronym for Long Player as in long-playing record) and in this age of digital streaming, some may not even know what a record is! The first LP I purchased was in 1967 and cost all of 32 shillings and 6 pence (about £1.63). It was called Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by a group called The Beatles. Yes, bands were called groups in those days. The album cover (below) became iconic.

What has this got to do with Black History you may be wondering? You might hazard a guess that it must be connected to the black boxer in the silk dressing gown on the left hand side of the cover. The boxer is former World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston but this story isn’t about him.

Let us go further back to February 1843 and Rochdale, Lancashire. Pablo Fanque’s famous Circus Royal is in town. Posters like the one below are displayed everywhere.

The local people are eagerly awaiting sight of the celebrated horse Zanthus and Mr Kite himself appearing on the tight rope. Mr Henderson the celebrated somerset thrower, wire dancer, vaulter and horse rider would carry out his extraordinary trampoline-leaps over men and horses, through hoops, over garters and lastly through a hogshead of real fire. What a talented and versatile man he seems to have been.

The owner of the circus, Pablo Fanque, was, as can be seen from his photograph below, a man of colour.

Born as William Darby in 1810 in Norwich, Norfolk, he changed his name as a young adult.

So successful was Pablo that he went on to become the first non-white owner of a circus. His circus was one of the most famous in Britain for over 30 years during a time that was considered the golden age of the circus. He is an important figure in British Black History particularly given that he achieved all that he did only a few years after slavery had been abolished.

You might now be thinking ‘yes, we now know the link to Black History but where do The Beatles fit into this story?’

One hundred and twenty three years after the Rochdale extravaganza the Beatle, John Lennon, saw the poster in an antique shop in Sevenoaks. It obviously made a big impression as he bought it.

Not only did he buy it, he also used it to compose a song. The last track on side one of the Sergeant Pepper LP (yes, kids, you played both sides of an LP, turning it over half way through) is called Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite and the words of the song drew heavily on the poster advertising Pablo Fanque’s Circus. Apart from the song’s title, the lyrics refer to many of the acts on the poster including Mr Kite and the Hendersons although Zanthus becomes ‘Henry the Horse’ presumably because it scans better. The song also mentions the throwing of somersets, trampolines and a ‘hogshead of real fire’. Pablo himself also gets a mention.

Pablo Fanque was a highly skilled horseman both in terms of training and riding. He was also a successful business man becoming the owner of a major circus. He had many celebrity friends including the boxer Jem Mace, indeed he may have learned some tricks of the trade from his pugilist friend. In Manchester in March 1852 Pablo found a man called Ratcliffe sticking posters over adverts for the circus. When Goodwin refused to desist Pablo beat him with a stick. A passer-by named Goodwin interceded. Pablo threw down the stick and resorted to using his fists giving Goodwin ‘a very beautiful pair of black eyes’ according to the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. Pablo had to appear before the Borough Court but after much toing and froing, the bill-sticker Ratcliffe agreed to accept one sovereign from Pablo and the case was dropped.

Pablo died in 1871 and is buried in what was once Woodhouse Lane Cemetery in Leeds. He rests alongside his first wife Susannah Darby who died in 1848 in Leeds when the building in which the circus was performing collapsed, crushing her to death.

So, there you have it, an important figure in British Black History and his link with The Beatles almost 100 years after his death.

A gravestone for Sarah Bonetta Forbes-Davies

Bill Hern writes: Just over 12 months ago we gave an update on Sarah Bonetta Forbes-Davies, the African Princess who was treated as a goddaughter by Queen Victoria and is buried in the British Cemetery in Funchal, Madeira.

We won’t repeat Sarah’s amazing story again here, you can read it elsewhere on the site (just use the ‘search’ function) but we do have welcome and exciting news to convey.

One hundred and thirty nine years after her death, Sarah finally has a gravestone!

Much of the thanks for this great news is due to a lady called Taiwo Olaiya who raised almost £1,000 in sponsorship when she completed the Hackney half-marathon in 2017. The rest of the cost was met by the people of Madeira via The Diocese in Europe (Church of England).

After learning of this most welcome and overdue development I went to see the caretaker of the Cemetery and asked if I could see Sarah’s burial record. He took me to the interior of the Chapel and unlocked the door of a huge safe. Taking a ledger from the safe we leafed through the records until we came to August 1880. There we saw the entry for Sarah. She is shown as the wife of I P L Davies of Lagos, West Africa. She died on 15 August aged 37 and was buried on the following day as was normal in those days. This of course meant that she almost certainly had no friends or members of her family at her funeral. We know for certain that her eldest daughter, Victoria, was not there as Queen Victoria noted in her diary: ‘saw poor Victoria Davies, my black godchild who learnt this morning of the death of her dear mother.’

After 139 years visitors to the British Cemetery will now be able to see that what was previously shown simply as Plot 206 is the resting place of a Princess – and not before time! Well done to Taiwo and the people of Madeira.

Windrush before the Windrush

Bill Hern writes: History is all around us and sometimes becomes apparent in the most unlikely of places and circumstances.

The Madeira Story Centre in Funchal tells the story of Madeira from its formation to the present day. It is an excellent museum and one I would recommend highly should you ever visit the island.

As you move between displays showing Madeira’s volcanic origins, its superb flora and fauna, sugar and rum production, explorers and warfare the last thing you expect to stumble across is a piece of iconic British Black History.

Madeira has long been a destination for those seeking a healthy and temperate climate. In the 19th century it was common for wealthy Britons suffering from health problems such as Tuberculosis to move to the island in order to recover. This was the case for Sarah Bonetta Forbes-Davies the African Princess who was ‘given’ to Queen Victoria who treated her like a goddaughter. Sadly the healthier climate didn’t help Sarah who died in 1880 and is buried in Funchal’s beautiful British Cemetery.

But Sarah is not represented in the museum. The unexpected piece of history is however, related to Madeira’s climate and attraction as a tourist resort.

Wrapped around a large pole in a dark corner of the museum is a poster from 1931 advertising cruises from Germany to many exotic places including Madeira. The cruise ships were called Monte Pascoal and Monte Rosa. Both had been launched the previous year and both would in years to come be captured by the British during World War 2. The Pascoal was loaded with chemical weapons and deliberately sunk off the coast of Scandinavia. The Monte Rosa however, survived the War although by 1945 she had been renamed the Empire Windrush.

The ship on the poster that had enticed wealthy Germans to spend their hard earned money on luxury cruises in the early 1930s had, less than twenty years later, become one of the most famous ships in history.

Surely no one in Britain can be unaware of the Windrush name whether it be the ship or the scandal. Many will know that the Windrush started life as a German cruise ship. Very few will know that a poster advertising cruises on the ship that would become the Empire Windrush is on display at a beautiful museum in Funchal, Madeira.

Keep your eyes open, history is everywhere and pops up in the most unexpected places!

Windrush stowaways revealed!

We have long been fascinated, some might say obsessed, by the subject of the Windrush stowaways. The official passenger list shows there were 1027 passengers on board when the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury on 22nd June 1948. This is the view that would have greeted them:

The passenger list shows two ‘stowaways’ (passengers 1026 and 1027) whose names have been handwritten on the last page of the typed list. Passenger 1026 was Evelyn Wauchope who we have discussed elsewhere on this site; 1027 was Samuel Johnson, 30 years old, who boarded at Kingston, Jamaica, but gave his ‘last place of permanent residence’ as Trinidad.

The fact that Evelyn is listed as a stowaway is a little harsh as, although she did board the ship by nefarious means at Kingston, she had, thanks to the support and generosity of her fellow passengers, paid her £48 fare in full. Samuel was not so fortunate and he was duly arrested and charged with having stowed away. There were fourteen other stowaways who were not named on the passenger list but who nevertheless were found on board without a ticket and they too were charged.

We strongly suspect there were others who escaped detection. Aldwyn Roberts (the calypsonian, Lord Kitchener) told of people jumping overboard and swimming ashore:

‘And the boat reached Tilbury, the water was brown and red. Well it’s the time I really realised that people are really brave. All those stowaways jumped from the ship into the water and started swimming. And I was wondering if those fellas were not afraid of alligators, because that water it seemed to me must have some kind of reptile in it. Anyway they went ashore … About a week after, I went to a place called the Paramount, where they could dance, there was a lot of dancing there. To my surprise, many of the stowaways were in the Paramount jiving, dancing and what have you. I had to laugh, I couldn’t believe it. A man just stowaway and, after a couple of days, he was in a dance hall jiving and dancing around.’

Perhaps we should take this account with a pinch of salt, Roberts was, after all, a storyteller by profession. Would anyone really have tried to swim across the river to Gravesend in Kent, or even up or downstream on the Essex side of the river?

But there is other evidence, Alford Gardner has hinted at all sorts of subterfuge to enable passengers to travel without paying their fare, including in a television documentary when he commented about ‘four lads who wanted to come and didn’t have the money, so we arranged to get them on and we got them off.’ We are also aware of at least a dozen men who claim to have been on board but whose names are not on the passenger list.

So, in the unlikely event you are asked in a pub quiz ‘how many passengers were on the Empire Windrush?’ the only correct answer is ‘no one knows’!

Little research has been done on what happened to the fifteen known stowaways, indeed, until now, they have never been named. But thanks to original research by Bill Hern in the court archives, we are in a position to rectify this omission and, in a series of articles we will attempt to piece together their stories.

Before discussing individuals, we will start by summarising what happened to them in the hours and days following their arrest.

It is easy to imagine that the fifteen did what they could to avoid being caught. Perhaps they lacked the courage to jump overboard or maybe they simply couldn’t swim?!

A report in the London Evening Standard of 22nd June said that they were taken of the ship handcuffed in pairs: ‘Six were put into a police van and driven away and four were marched up the road.’ A Police Inspector explained that the handcuffs were only: ‘because of the difficulty of bringing them from the ship through more than 400 other coloured people.’ All the papers got the numbers wrong so the fact that the Standard reports ten is not too much of a surprise.

They were swiftly taken to the Court at Orsett in Tilbury where a special session was arranged from 5.30 to 6.30 pm on 22 June – the day of arrival!

All fifteen were charged with the same two offences. All that differed was the date on which they began their journey i.e. the date of offence and the place they started from.

First to appear was Ulite Chin, aged twenty four, who had boarded at Kingston, Jamaica. In Ulite’s case the charges were:

Offence 1 – On 27 May 1948 at Kingston, Jamaica did travel on the British Steamship “Empire Windrush” without first paying his fare and with intent to avoid payment thereof contrary to Section 287 Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

Offence 2 – On 27 May 1948 at Kingston, Jamaica did secrete himself on board the British Steamship “Empire Windrush” and proceed to sea without the consent of the owner, master, consignee or any other person entitled to give such consent. Section 237 Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

Ulite pleaded guilty to both offences. Indeed all fifteen did likewise. The penalties were identical with one exception, that of Ernest Arthur Rochester who had no identity papers so suffered a harsher sentence.

For the offence of non-payment, Ulite was given the choice of a £1 fine or 7 days in jail. Like most of his fellow travellers he opted to pay the fine.

Given that the cost of a ticket would have been £28 and 10 shillings some of the stowaways may have regarded a mere £1 fine as a good piece of business. The Court would seem to have regarded the offence as none too serious. To give an idea of similar sentences for other offences, on 25 June one Oliver Frederick Payton was fined £1 for driving a motor van on a footpath. On 2 July Harry Henry Mumford was also fined £1 for stealing tea towels to the value of 1 shilling and 8 pence (about 18 pence in decimal currency).

The offence of being at sea without consent resulted in Ulite being imprisoned for ten days. He also had to pay 4 shillings in penalties and costs.

The Court records show that the imposition of prison sentences for the types of offences usually heard in Orsett was rare, so clearly the Magistrate and the prosecuting officer, a Mr Spreckley, felt the second offence was by far the more serious.

The Court managed to rush through ten of the stowaways on 22 June before resuming at 10.15 the following morning. This time the prosecuting officer was Edward A Jackson. By 11.15am the final five offenders had been dealt with and all were either in, or on their way to, jail.

The ages of the offenders ranged from nineteen to thirty years old. Ten boarded the Windrush in Kingston, three in Trinidad and two in Bermuda.

The results of our research into what happened to each of the fifteen will be reported in future articles.

James Walvin: Equiano, the slave trade and the cause of freedom

It’s always a pleasure to meet someone who has a written a book that graces your bookshelf. James Walvin, who has devoted 50 years of his life to researching and writing about black British history, spoke eloquently at the American International Church in London recently on the subject of ‘Equiano: the slave trade and the cause of freedom’.

James book ‘An African’s Life: The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano’ was first published almost 20 years ago, maybe it’s a little out of date now but it is still a very good read. It takes Equiano’s own words as the starting point for a discussion of the historical context for Equiano’s life and times. Anyone who wants to know more about the world Equiano lived in could do far worse than getting hold of a copy.

There is an interesting interview with James here, it dates from 2007 but that doesn’t diminish its interest: https://archives.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/interviews/walvin.html

Felix Villarroel (Household Cavalry: 3762)

Deborah Crawford, a volunteer for the Imperial War Museum‘s project ‘Lives of the First World War’ https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/ and a friend of Historycal Roots, is doing incredible work to identify West Indian service men and women who qualify for a Commonwealth War Grave but for various reasons have been overlooked. One such soldier is Felix Villarroel of the Household Cavalry.

Felix was a law student from Trinidad when he enlisted on 8 November 1915. He was severely injured in France in November 1917 when the rubble from a bursting shell buried him for 3 hours. He contracted Tuberculosis and was discharged as medically unfit from 17 February 1918. He returned to Trinidad where he died, age 27, on 9 June 1921. Deborah identified Felix as a soldier who should have been granted a War Grave but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) requires proof that Felix’s death was related to the War. Obtaining any form of certificate from Trinidad is fraught with difficulty to the point of being almost impossible unless you can apply in person.

During a recent visit to Trinidad to research the life of singer/actor Mona Baptiste, Bill Hern braved Trinidadian officialdom and bureaucracy (no doubt inherited from the British) to try and obtain the evidence that was required.

After several false starts and with the help of some Trinidadian friends he was able to eventually obtain a copy of Felix’s death certificate which showed he did indeed die of Tuberculosis. Deborah will now pursue the matter to try and ensure Felix receives the recognition his bravery and service deserve.

Felix’s situation is not unique. The ‘In From The Cold’ Project http://infromthecold.org/ was formed more than ten years ago to research and identify all service men and women missing from the official CWGC list of casualties from the First and Second World Wars. Unfortunately, many names were missed from the lists supplied to the Commission and, as a result, many casualties have no official commemoration. They qualify for commemoration provided they died within the qualifying dates for the First World War – 4th August 1914 to 31 August 1921. The project aims to get these soldiers, sailors, airmen and nurses their due recognition – even after the passing of so many years.

Deborah has already submitted deaths in service claims directly to CWGC for British West Indies Regiment Private 4853 Octavius Garwood or Gaywood; Private 4978 Claudius or Charles Whitelock; Private 10660 Arthur Thomas; Private 10685 Wilford or Wilfred Thompson and twelve service men of the West India Regiment stationed in Sierra Leone.

So if you know of a service man or woman who you feel should be given recognition do let the ‘In From The Cold’ Project know about it.

It would of course be a massive bonus to trace any of Felix’s ancestors to enable them to join in celebrating his memory. Similarly if we could discover where he is buried (presumably in Trinidad) it might be possible to ensure his final resting place is preserved in a fitting manner. You can read his story below.

https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/5363144

Equiano 2019

The Equiano Society have (or should that be ‘has’?) run a series of events this year to commemorate the life of Olaudah Equiano, we have been fortunate enough to attend most of them. Many of the events have been held at the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road as this is now believed to be the site of his final resting place.

A highlight of the programme was an event to launch a new exhibition featuring Equiano’s life. It was an unusually varied programme with music, poetry from Nairobi Thompson, an acted debate on theology between Equiano and a member of the Protestant church (remember the church had very mucky hands when it came to the question of slavery), as well as spoken pieces from Burt Caesar, Mervyn Weir and Arthur Torrington. Jonathan Miller represented the church and introduced the Mayor of Camden. The musical interludes featuring Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’ and ‘Amazing Grace’ played on solo violin and piano were a powerful and moving highlight for us. The photos from the back of a packed audience don’t really do justice to the performers.

The exhibition panels give a good overview of Equiano’s life with expert guides (well, us) on hand to answer questions.

Although the launch event has been and gone the exhibition continues until the end of August at the American International Church, Tottenham Court Road, very close to Goodge Street tube station.

The exhibition will be open between 12 noon and 14.00 and then again between 17.00 and 20.00 on 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 28th and 29th August. Opening times on Saturday 17th and Saturday 24th will be 10.00 to 17.00. The exhibition is free.

There is a special event on Saturday 17th when, James Walvin, a Professor of History at York University and author of many books on black British history, will be speaking on the subject of ‘Equiano, The Slave Trade and The Cause of Freedom’. Tickets for the talk are on Eventbrite, admission to the talk is free.

Do try and get there if you can.

Eulogy in Leeds

There is a fantastic exhibition on display at Leeds Central Library at the moment but do hurry if you want to see it as it is due to close on 8 September 2019.

Eulogy is based around the lives of 76 first generation Jamaicans who settled in Leeds between the 1940s and 1960s. These 76 pioneers spent a combined total of 3,469 years living in Leeds, contributing to the ongoing success of the city and paving the way for their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

There is an element of sadness that all 76 have passed away but the overriding feeling is one of inspiration and celebration for all that they achieved.

There are stories of nurses, transport workers, RAF personnel and increasing recognition in the local community. The exhibition is well constructed, spacious and welcoming. It is based around funeral programmes, other keepsakes, photographs and short accompanying narratives.

The Jamaica Society Leeds is responsible for the exhibition and they have certainly done a great job.

A very professionally produced newspaper called Eulogy has been produced and can be collected at the exhibition. It provides an excellent souvenir of a truly inspiring event.

The exhibition is possibly best summed up by this entry taken from the newspaper:

“Eulogy goes beyond media narratives of the Windrush generation as victims. Trailblazing community stalwarts and RAF servicemen sit alongside stories of triumph and heartbreak, and imagery of young couples in love, families and people making a living. These are human stories that everyone can relate to.”

It would be nice to think Eulogy will be so successful that its run will be extended but don’t take that chance, do visit it at Leeds Central Library before it closes on 8 September. You will not regret it!

300 Years of Migrating to Leeds

Bill Hern, our northern correspondent, has this to say about a current exhibition in Leeds:

On 9 August I had the pleasure of visiting Leeds City Museum to listen to a fascinating presentation called “300 Years of Migrating to Leeds.”

It was virtually standing room only as an enthralled audience heard curators Adam Jaffer and Ruth Martin describe Leeds’ proud history in welcoming migrants and refugees over the centuries. There is evidence of migrants coming to Leeds tens of thousands of years ago, but the first large waves of migrants came over in the 19th century from Ireland and also Jewish refugees mainly from Russia and Poland.

Leeds has benefited greatly from migration particularly through the Jewish community, Montague Burton (originally Meshe Osinsky) founded Burton Menswear and of course Michael Marks of Marks and Spencer fame was another famous Jewish migrant to Leeds.

Ruth and Adam also covered the migration of Belgians during World War 1, Ukrainians immediately after World War 2, West Indians and South Asians.

The reasons for people moving to Leeds often involve escape from War or persecution but Adam stressed the impact the building of the Mangla Dam in Mirpur, Pakistan in the 1960s had on immigration from that country. Over 100,000 people were left permanently displaced after 280 villages were flooded in order to create the Dam. Many used their compensation payments to move to Yorkshire.

More recently Leeds has maintained its reputation as a city which welcomes migrants receiving people from East European EU countries. It is the 6th most popular British city for Polish immigrants.

Migrants have also been received from Iraq, China and Syria with Leeds being named one of the most welcoming cities for Syrian refugees. Leeds is currently a City of Sanctuary, part of a national movement to build a culture of welcome for people seeking sanctuary in the UK.

It is impossible to do justice to the information-packed hour long presentation in only a few paragraphs but the good news is that the Museum has a free exhibition called ‘A city & its welcome – Three centuries of migrating to Leeds.’ The Museum’s publicity material sums up the exhibition perfectly – “A city and its welcome’ tells the stories and experiences of those who have made a home in Leeds over the past three centuries, and how they have helped shape the city that we recognise today. Come on a journey with us to see the differences between their hopes and expectations and the realities of life in a new place, plus treasured objects brought from afar.”

The exhibition is open until 5 January 2020 and really is not to be missed. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Searchable Passenger List for the Empire Windrush

The original passenger list for the journey of the MV Empire Windrush from the Caribbean to Tilbury in May/June 1948 is held at the National Archives at Kew in south west London. You might think that would make it pretty easy to get the basic facts about who was on board right. Sadly, you would be wrong. Many untruths persist – at various times it has been said that the passengers were all male, all Jamaican and all black. None of these statements is correct but they still crop up regularly on the internet. Even the number of passengers has been widely misquoted – the number 492 is constantly repeated, even by reputable historians, even though the official list records the names of 1027.

One of the challenges we set ourselves in 2018 was to transcribe the list into a searchable database. This sounded like a relatively straightforward task, albeit a tedious one. However there were various problems. The original list is typed rather than handwritten as some were, so far so good, but unfortunately the entries are very unclear in places, so much so that some of the names are very difficult to decipher. On some pages the typist failed to put a new ribbon in their typewriter when it was clearly needed! Even after very careful scrutiny, some of the names can only be guessed at.

While doing our own transcription we identified another problem, anyone relying on the details transcribed from that list onto sites like Ancestry.co.uk may be disappointed as, in many cases, where a name was hard to read, whoever did the transcription work for Ancestry simply gave up and moved onto the next legible entry. This matters if someone is trying to trace the history of a particular individual, an ancestor may have been on the Windrush but the fact is not easily found because their record was one of those that was not transcribed.

As with any typed list there will be cases where the typist simply made a mistake. Mona Baptiste is number seven on the list and her entry is beautifully clear, clear enough to see that her name was typed up as ‘Baptisite’. That extra ‘i’ is enough to throw search engines looking for ‘Baptiste’ off the scent. Our own transcription will inevitably contain typing errors no matter how careful we were.

The transcription work took us three months but we have been able to use the database to check ‘at the touch of a button’ whether someone was on board. Interestingly, we know of at least a dozen men who claim to have been on the voyage whose names do not appear on the passenger list. Our view, one that for obvious reasons we cannot prove, is that these men were among the many stowaways known to have been on the ship.

It was always our intention to make the database available to anyone who wanted to use it but, recently, we discovered that we don’t need to. Unknown to us, at much the same time we were transcribing the list, Goldsmiths University in south London had set up a project to do exactly the same thing. They have made their work freely available and you can access it here: https://www.gold.ac.uk/windrush/passenger-list/. This is a brilliant resource for anyone with an interest in the Windrush, well done to Goldsmiths for making it available free of charge.

No excuse now for getting basic facts about the Windrush passengers wrong!

The university put on an exhibition about the project. We visited before it finished in February and it was an impressive display.

Entirely by chance we bumped into Margaret Collins the daughter of passenger number 589, Rudolph Collins, she was visiting at the same time as us. Margaret was thrilled when she found her father’s card.

She mentioned that she thought her uncle had also been on the Windrush and we used our own database to confirm that there were only two other men called Collins on the ship, passenger number 588, Claud, and 608, Melvin. Margaret was puzzled by this as she had never known her uncle by either of those names. But her father is sometimes referred to as ‘Nick’ and that was not a name he ever used to her knowledge so names can be a bit flexible! Neither Claud or Rudolph had an address to go to so they both spent their first nights in England at the Clapham South Deep Shelter. The fact that the two young men had consecutive numbers and both went to Clapham can’t be entirely accidental surely? However, the case for Claud and Rudolph being brothers is weakened somewhat when we discover that the younger of the two, Rudolph, who was seventeen according to the passenger list, left the shelter after only a few days and moved to West London, leaving Claud, 23, behind. Surely if they were brothers they might have stuck together? For now, the jury is out.

If you think you may have had a relative on the Windrush, why not use the Goldsmiths’ database to check?