Author: roots1937

An Evening With Dido Elizabeth Belle

Friday 31st August saw a group of young people deliver ‘An Evening With Dido Elizabeth Belle’ at the Shoestring Theatre in Croydon.

   

The show was the end product of a boot camp they attended during their school holiday. The young cast sang, danced and acted out a school trip to Kenwood House where a young schoolgirl of mixed heritage, called Fern, came face to face with Dido Elizabeth Belle, first in the famous painting and then in the flesh as Dido came to life before her eyes.

   

The one-off performance drew a sell out crowd of seventy who gave the young cast a rousing reception at the end of the show. The youngsters (from  age seven up to sixteen) had given up two weeks of their holiday to prepare for the show, receiving coaching in the performing arts (singing, dancing and acting). Their hard work really did pay dividends and will, hopefully, have done wonders for their self-confidence (performing in front of a live audience can be a daunting experience for people of any age).

The distinguished historian Michael Ohajuru appeared in the show as himself, explaining to the school party the significance of the painting and the context surrounding it.

   

After a short interval, Michael chaired a question and answer session with the audience that featured Evadne Bygrave (CEO of Sing-a-Book and the driving force behind the show) and David Gleave (of Historycal Roots and author of the book ‘Fern and Kate Meet Dido Elizabeth Belle’ on which the show was loosely [!] based). Asked why he felt Dido’s story was important, David said: ‘I was a white boy who went to a white school where I was taught white history. I learned about Florence Nightingale, for example, but not Mary Seacole. It was only much later that I realised there was a very different and much more diverse and interesting version of history that had been left untold.’ Dido, he went on to say, had come from the most disadvantaged background imaginable but had nevertheless overcome the obstacles that confronted her to leave her unique mark on the world, something we could all draw inspiration from.

The show could hardly have been better timed because, purely by chance, a couple of days later the painting of Dido was featured in an episode of ‘Fake or Fortune?’ on the BBC. The programme told Dido’s story and explored who might have painted the famous double portrait. For many years the painting was attributed to Zoffany but, after a fascinating investigation, the artist was identified as David Martin, a highly regarded Scottish portrait painter. A value of £600,000 was put on the painting but everyone agreed that its significance as a historical document far outweighed any monetary value.

We first became aware of Dido’s story about thirty years ago when a group of local historians in Camden asked themselves questions about the mysterious Black girl in the painting at Kenwood House. We have followed developments avidly ever since and it is so satisfying to know that her story is now much more widely known. Hopefully our young actors will be among those who now have a better understanding of the rich diversity of British history.

Equiano: the journey of discovery continues

It was a pleasure to meet Jonathan Miller and Arthur Torrington at the American International Church on Tottenham Court Road recently. This is where we now know Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano)[1] was buried in 1797. Jonathan is archivist at the church and is as excited as we are about the discovery.

We discussed how we can work together to bring Equiano’s links with the church to greater public attention. This fits well with the church’s own desire to make the history of the church more visible to the local community and the many visitors who pass along Tottenham Court Road every day.

The church already has an impressive outreach programme, running a regular soup kitchen and also an overnight shelter for some of London’s homeless people, as well as hosting a multiplicity of food stalls that were doing a roaring trade when we visited. A visible commemoration of Equiano would add another dimension to the church’s appeal.

Jonathan produced some fascinating material from the archive. There has been some uncertainty about the physical appearance of the church in Equiano’s day as it has been through a number of incarnations over the past two and a half centuries. Jonathan was able to clear this up, producing this image:

Jonathan also showed us an image of the Minister, Torial Joss, at the time of Equiano’s attendance:

Whether Joss was able to officiate at Equiano’s funeral on 6th April 1797 must be in some doubt as he himself was buried on 22nd April, just sixteen days later.

We had a discussion of how Equiano might have been buried. The burial register shows that a handful of people (Joss was one of them) were buried in a ‘family grave in chapel’ . One person, David West Esq, had recently been buried in a ‘vault in chapel’, a few others were buried in a family grave outside the church but the vast majority appear, because there is no other entry in the register, to have been buried in a ‘common grave in grounds’. As Jonathan pointed out, ideas about how people were buried were rather different from today and it seems that burial in a common grave was very much the norm.

We discussed the possibility of obtaining funding for a number of events next year and the hope is that a major event can be hosted at the church itself next April – very much something to look forward to!

[1] Gustavus Vassa was the name given to Equiano by one of his owners, it was the name that Equiano himself used during his time in London, sometimes adding the soubriquet ‘the African’. On this site we are more inclined to use his African name, Olaudah Equiano.

More ‘forgotten history’ remembered

Thanks to the hard work of Bill Hern we have recently been able to add two new pages to the ‘forgotten history’ section of this site.

A page on Charles Williams tells the story of the father of Yorkshire comedian. Charlie Williams.

While another new page recalls the life of Corporal Jacques M’Bondo whose remarkable life took him from landlocked Ouaka in what is now part of the Central African Republic to a hillside grave in County Durham, via Paris, Belgium, the killing fields of First World War Flanders  and London.

Two fascinating stories that cast light on different aspects of Black British history..

Sam King Memorial Lecture

Sam King was one of the passengers on the Empire Windrush when it docked at Tilbury in May 1948. He was just 22 years old and his family had sold livestock to pay his fare of £28 10 shillings. Like many men who had served in the RAF during the war he wanted to return to the ‘Mother Country’.

A born leader, he worked for 34 years in the Post Office, working his way up to a management position, became a  Labour Councillor in 1982 and within six months had become the first Black Mayor of Southwark. In 1988 he was awarded the MBE.

On 19th June 2018 his memory was honoured with a memorial lecture held at St Margaret’s Church in the grounds of Westminster Abbey. Organised by Sam’s good friend, Arthur Torrington (together they created The Windrush Foundation – https://windrushfoundation.com/), the event was hosted by The Reverend Jane Sinclair, Canon of Westminster and Rector of St Margaret’s, and chaired by Lady Benjamin of Beckenham (sorry, she’ll always by Floella from Play School for me!).

    

There were tributes from Sam’s grand daughter, Dione McDonald, Lord Ouseley of Peckham Rye and Michelle Asantewa and a calypso from Alexander D’Great, before Arthur delivered his lecture, a wide ranging discussion of the influence people from the Caribbean have had on Britain, an influence that, he stressed, started long before the Windrush.

What made the event so special was that it was led by people who had known Sam and were able to speak from the heart about how he had influenced them. He was clearly a man who was widely loved and respected and it was a privilege to be present.

War to Windrush: Black Women in Britain 1939 to 1948

Since retiring in 2016 I have come to love the National Archives at Kew and, more recently, The British Library at Kings Cross, both institutions where anyone with any interest in history could happily spend most of their days – and both completely free. I’m increasingly inclined to add the British Film Institute on London’s Southbank to my list of favourite places. A wide range of films can be seen in the (free) viewing booths adjacent to the foyer, including films from the early days of cinema that document the black presence in Britain. But I hadn’t realised until recently that they also host free talks for old people like me!

Recently I attended one given by Stephen Bourne, author of ‘War to Windrush: Black Women in Britain 1939 to 1948’. I arrived early and was one of an audience of about four in what was a pretty large space. I did fear this might be a bit of a flop but I’m pleased to say that by the time Stephen’s talk started there must have been at least 100 people present.

It’s a fascinating and under-researched subject and the talk was very illuminating. Stephen has met a number of the subjects discussed in the book and his talk was laced with personal reminiscences. The book mentions just two black women who were actually on board the Windrush when it docked at Tilbury:  Mona Baptiste (featured elsewhere on this site) and Lucilda Harris. It’s a little known fact that there were around 230 women on the ship, including almost 60 Polish women coming to the UK under the terms of the Polish Resettlement Act. Most of the women were certainly white, but at Historycal Roots we are pretty sure there were other black women on board and it’s our aim to identify and write about them.

Essentially this was an early book launch (the book isn’t due to be published until 22nd June) and Stephen was available after the talk finished to sign copies (I joined the long queue).  Some of the material in the book re-presents material from earlier books such as ‘Black Poppies’ and ‘Evelyn Dove’ but Stephen has an engaging writing style and there is enough new and interesting material to make the book a worthwhile addition to the Historycal Roots library.

Two Great Exhibitions

We recently attended an exhibition of photographs at the Oxo Tower on London’s Southbank. The photos, all taken by Jim Grover, featured Windrush pioneer, Alford Gardner, but also many others who came after (and before!) the Windrush.

It was a pleasure to chat to Jim and such a pity that his book featuring the photos was not ready in time for the exhibition. We have put our name down for a copy and very much look forward to seeing it.

One face did jump out at me:

This is Neil Flanigan (MBE). Neil was born in Kingston, Jamaica and, in 1943, signed up to join the RAF, reaching England in 1944 in his late teens. Neil has lived in England almost continuously ever since, raising three children with his wife Mavis. I recognised his face immediately as he trusted me with his i-pad and asked me to take photos while he took the salute in Windrush Square on Remembrance Sunday 2017. I’d never used an i-pad before and really (I mean really) hope that the photos turned out OK.

The exhibition is only on until 10th June but you have much more chance of catching:

https://www.bl.uk/events/windrush-songs-in-a-strange-land

This is on at the British Library until 21st October (and, we were told, will subsequently move to Leeds).

We were lucky enough to be invited to the launch event. We weren’t able to do the exhibition itself justice as we were too busy talking to some of the people in attendance. These included: Windrush pioneer, John Richards, still going strong at the age of 92; Peter Dielhenn and his daughter, Peter was the youngest member of the Windrush crew (his daughter proudly pointed him out to me in the background of the famous newsreel of Lord Kitchener singing ‘London is the place for me’); and Arthur Torrington, co-founder of the Windrush Foundation. We will return to view the exhibition properly on another day.

How long?

All three of the Historycal Roots team recently attended a ‘What’s Happening In Black British History?’ event hosted by Huddersfield University.

http://www.mirandakaufmann.com/blog/agenda-announced-for-whats-happening-in-black-british-history-viii-at-the-university-of-huddersfield

There was a packed programme of talks throughout the day and one of the speakers (Testament, writer of ‘Black Men Walking’) posed the question ‘How long? How long does there have to be a Black presence in Britain before Black people are simply accepted as ‘people’ without having to explain or justify their presence and facing a battle to be accepted?’

A number of the presentations were relevant to this question as they illustrated that Black people have been a sizeable part of the British community for centuries:

  • in regular regiments of the British Army since the 1700s (John Ellis, Historian and Teacher);
  • as members of the Yorkshire community dating back several centuries (Audrey Dewjee, Independent Historian);
  • as prisoners of war held at Porchester Castle between 1793 and 1814 (Abigail Coppins (Curator).

Of course it would have been possible to have sessions illustrating a Black presence in Roman and even pre-Roman times (maybe next time).

During a presentation delivered by Milton Brown (University of Huddersfield and Kirklees Local TV), one of the pre-recorded vox pop interviews featured a Black woman with a heavy Yorkshire accent saying that whenever she goes into a meeting the first question is always ‘where are you from?’. In a 45 year career in the civil service during which I must have attended thousands of meetings I don’t think I was ever asked that question. As a white male it was no doubt considered redundant but why does a Black person need to be ‘from’ anywhere? The question implies: you don’t belong here, you are not one of us, you must be from somewhere else.

The whole day was thought provoking and interesting and it was followed by a small party to mark the opening of an exhibition: ‘Let’s Play Vinyl’.

The ‘how long does it take?’question assumed a more personal perspective as two of us made our way from the hotel to Huddersfield station the following day. A passenger in a passing car hurled random racist abuse in our direction before speeding off. Was it the mix of Black and White that he found so offensive? We’ll never know as he didn’t stop to explain his ‘thought’ processes.

‘How long?’ indeed.

The Walker Brothers in … Barbados!

The Walker brothers were born and bred in Barbados so it seems right that a copy of the book ‘The Walker Brothers and Their Legacy – Three Black Soldiers in World War One’ should be held on the island and where better than the Barbados Museum’s prestigious Shilstone Memorial Library.

Bill Hern of Historycal Roots travelled to Barbados to hand across a copy of the book. He gave a presentation to the Barbados Museum and Historical Society in the beautiful Walled Garden of the Museum at the Garrison, St Michael. His presentation covered the Walker Brothers and also his journey last year to visit every World War 1 Commonwealth War Grave in Barbados.

He can be seen here presenting a copy of the book to Harriet Pierce Librarian at the Shilstone Memorial Library with Alissandra Cummins Director of the Museum and Historical Society looking on.

It’s good to know that the Walkers will be remembered forever on their home island of Barbados.

The Walker Brothers, Three Black Soldiers in …. Liverpool!

While we were in Liverpool recently we took the opportunity to present Ray Costello and Adam Duckworth with copies of our book about the Walker Brothers.

Ray’s book,  ‘Black Tommies’, was a major inspiration for our work:

And it was Adam Duckworth who first introduced us to the name of Ray Costello. Adam works in the Anthony Walker Education Centre at the International Slavery Museum where he does brilliant work with groups of local children:

We first met Adam a couple of years ago when we attended a workshop about Walter Tull that he had organised and it was a real pleasure to meet him again.