More evidence of the Black presence in Britain before the Windrush

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 3^rd 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’.

https://www.historycalroots.com/private-huntley-hugh-lecesne-a-jamaican-in-the-machine-gun-corps-during-ww1/

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[+]

References
↑1	https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FPORTSMOUTH%2FMAR%2F00065069%2F1&tab=this
↑2	‘Black and British: A Forgotten Story’ (p.433) by David Olusoga, Macmillan, 2016

John Peters: A Black rating in the Royal Navy

Anyone familiar with the long running TV quiz ‘Have I Got News For You’ will know that they have a ‘guest publication’ slot which features some extremely obscure magazines and journals, the panellists have to fill in the blanks in incomplete headlines. As far as I know Topmasts – the Quarterly Newsletter of the Society for Nautical Research has never featured but it is certainly a journal I was unaware of – until now.

Their February issue includes an article by our regular contributor, John Ellis. John’s article features John Peters, who had been a Black rating in the Royal Navy and was almost certainly a veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar. You can read the article (indeed, the entire issue – John’s article is the third item in it) here:

Click to access February-2025-No53-3.pdf

John Peters died on 30^th June 1842 and was buried on 2^nd July at St. Michael’s church, Heighington, Co. Durham, yet another instance of Black history buried (literally) in British cemeteries:

Thomas Crawford (c1772 to 1836): Soldier, Husband and Father

There are a number of historians who make it their business to improve our understanding of British history by documenting the contribution of Black and mixed heritage men and women. We are honoured to have two of them, Audrey Dewjee and John Ellis, as regular contributors to this site.

Today it is the turn of John Ellis, who has given us a short article about Thomas Crawford, a man who served his country with distinction during the Napoleonic Wars. Born in Africa (Guinea) in about 1772, Thomas was buried at St. Cuthbert’s church, Darlington on 27^th February 1836.

You can read John’s article here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/trumpeter-thomas-crawford-of-the-4th-dragoons/

Sean Creighton

Sean Creighton was another of the dedicated band of historians who sought to re-balance British history. Sadly, Sean died earlier this year but he was someone who enhanced our knowledge in many ways and John Ellis particularly asked me to mention him in the context of this latest article. Sean attended Durham university, he continued to take a keen interest in the history of the area up to his death and Thomas Crawford was someone he knew of and wrote about. We acknowledge Sean’s own contribution and are glad that we had the privilege of knowing him.

Two new articles highlighting the Black presence across the centuries

The process of re-writing British history to more fully reflect the Black presence continues apace with two new articles for Historycal Roots.

In the first, John Ellis continues his exploration of the presence of soldiers ‘of colour’ in the British Army in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. This time he turns his attention to the 20^th Regiment of the Light Dragoons. During the period 1797 to 1818 he has identified two dozen men of colour who served in the regiment at one time or another. He has dubbed these men ‘A Band of Brothers’ not least because the names apparently include two sets of brothers. John starts his story at the end with the discharge of a group of men in Ireland in 1818. Five of them, all born on the island of St. Domingo (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), had enlisted, along with others, in the Caribbean on the same date in October 1798. They served together, saw colleagues die, and were discharged together after twenty years’ service. John’s article is here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/a-band-of-brothers-the-black-soldiers-of-the-20th-regiment-of-light-dragoons-1797-1818/

The second article is by another stalwart contributor, Audrey Dewjee. The recruitment of Black women to the ATS and WAAF (the branches of the Army and Royal Air Force that were open to women) in the latter part of World War 2 is relatively well documented. The story of one of them, Nadia Cattouse, can be found elsewhere on this site, she died recently at the age of 99.^[1]https://www.historycalroots.com/nadia-cattouse/

What is less well known is that some women of colour, resident in Britain when the War started, had successfully defeated the colour bar that was in operation at the time and joined up anyway. Audrey’s article identifies twelve such pioneers. They include Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan whose story is relatively well known (she parachuted into France, was captured by the Germans and shot as a spy), and others about whom we know very little at all. Audrey’s article is here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/women-of-colour-in-the-ats-and-waaf-in-the-early-years-of-world-war-2-2/

References[+]

References
↑1	https://www.historycalroots.com/nadia-cattouse/

A Welsh mystery

Wanted

Information leading to the identification of this woman

The lady pictured here features in Audrey Dewjee’s latest article on Welsh Black history.

Audrey explains that at the end of a talk she gave in a small Yorkshire village, a member of the audience showed her this photograph and asked how she could find out who this beautiful young lady was. She had discovered the image in an album inherited after the death of a distant relation, and she had no idea who the young woman might be or how she may have been connected to the family. It was taken in ‘Newtown, North Wales’ (now in Powys) by a photographer named John Owen. Audrey supposes it dates from somewhere around 1890. We invite you to share this image far and wide and let us know of any clues as to the lady’s identity.

It is customary for ‘wanted’ posters to offer some sort of reward, unfortunately we can offer no money but you will earn our immense gratitude, reward enough, surely?!

This is just one of the fascinating snippets contained within Audrey’s article which you can find here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/more-snippets-of-welsh-black-history-1801-to-1900/

Ophelia Powell – A ‘Lady of Colour’ who graced many a music hall stage in Victorian Britain

The Britannia Panopticon Hall, Glasgow, where Ophelia performed in July 1864

John Ellis continues his trawl through the rapidly growing stock of digitised newspaper archives with the story of Ophelia Powell. Probably born in Jamaica in 1839, Ophelia became a big star in the burgeoning music hall scene in Victorian Britain, performing in some of the most prestigious venues as a serio-comic vocalist, a genre we had not previously heard of but one that bore many resemblances to modern stand up comedy. Serio-comics had to be adroit at dealing with hecklers who, in Ophelia’s case, would no doubt have had few qualms about commenting on her colour in robust terms. That she was able to sustain her career for over twenty years speaks volumes for her talent, resilience and determination.

The last trace John found of her in the archives dates from 1876 but where and when Ophelia faced the ‘final curtain’ is not known.

You can read John’s article here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/ophelia-powell-a-victorian-music-hall-star-and-lady-of-colour/

Edward Albert and his descendants

Jack London wearing his 1928 British Olympic blazer [Credit: PHA/8/2/90 © University of Westminster Archive]

Audrey Dewjee’s latest article for Historycal Roots starts with the birth of Edward Albert in Kingston, Jamaica in about 1830 and leads inexorably through the generations to Jack London. Born in British Guiana in January 1905, Jack won both a gold and a silver medal at the Olympic Games held in Amsterdam in 1928.

Audrey’s article takes us on a fascinating journey. To be honest, the story of Edward Albert is remarkable in its own right, encompassing life in the Royal Navy from the age of nine, the amputation of both legs below the knee at the age of twenty-one, his ‘death’ following the operation (greatly exaggerated as it transpired), time spent begging on the streets, a successful business venture (he was robbed of his profits), marriage and fatherhood. Edward’s resilience in the face of adversity and repeated setbacks is inspiring, but his story does not end there.

Among other discoveries, Audrey has identified two grandsons and a great-grandson who served in the Army during World War One or Two, including one who was captured by the Germans at Arnhem and another who died in Singapore.

Jack London enters the story in 1938 when he married Agnes Downham, a grand-daughter of Albert.

Born during the time of slavery, Edward Albert’s story, and that of many others like him, reminds us of Maya Angelou’s poem:

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Thank you, Audrey, for illuminating Black British history with your research and for helping to ensure that people like Edward Albert ‘rise’ and are not forgotten.

You can read the full story here: https://www.historycalroots.com/edward-albert-c-1830-1892-james-buchanan-c-1806-1886-and-their-families/

New discoveries: Black soldiers in Edinburgh 1792-1848

New discoveries cause us to constantly revise our thoughts about history in general and Black British history in particular. More and more records are being digitised and made available online and these lead to new finds and deeper understanding.

Regular contributor, John D Ellis, recently stumbled across a set of data he had never seen before. Careful analysis of the Army attestation registers for Edinburgh, has enabled John to identify the names of over forty Black soldiers who enlisted in British Army regiments between 1792 and 1848 in the city of Edinburgh alone. John makes the point that if such a register was maintained in Edinburgh, similar registers must have been kept in other cities – where are they and what would they reveal about the Black presence in Britain?

We first became aware of John’s work when he spoke at an event we attended in Huddersfield in 2018, what he had to say about the presence of Black soldiers in the British Army in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries opened our eyes to an area of black British history that we had been largely unaware of. Since then, our understanding of the Black presence, in terms of both numbers and geographical spread, has come on in leaps and bounds. Working on this site and becoming aware of the work of John, Audrey Dewjee, Ray Costello and many others has been an educational experience for us and, we hope, for you too.

You can read John’s article here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/black-soldiers-and-edinburgh-c-1792-1848/

From Jamaica to Hampton Court

Born on Jamaica in about 1780, a ‘Black man’, John Fitzhenry, had seen service in the British Army in Spain and in ‘the War of 1812’ in America before the 1841 census found him living at Hampton Court Palace with his wife and three children. John was working there as a servant.

Interesting enough, but John D Ellis’s latest article for Historycal Roots about John Fitzhenry’s life has two postscripts.

The first, identifies some other ‘men of colour’ who served with John Fitzhenry’s regiment (the 14^th Dragoons). It includes an instructive detour to Australia where a former officer of the regiment came to an inglorious end whilst hunting down members of the Nyungar tribe, whose ancestors had lived on the land for countless centuries before the arrival of British colonists, in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania).

The second postscript traces the exploits of John Fitzhenry’s son who competed as an athlete in Yorkshire in the 1840s and subsequently moved to Liverpool.

You can read John’s wide-ranging article here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/from-jamaica-to-hampton-court-palace-private-john-fitzhenry-of-the-14th-dragoons/

Roots entwined

Audrey Dewjee’s latest contribution to Historycal Roots is of particular interest to us and we hope you will find it enlightening too. Audrey has chosen the title ‘Roots entwined’ for the article and in it she explores the history of inter-racial marriage in her home county of Yorkshire.

The earliest mixed marriage she mentions in the article took place in Deptford, London, in 1613, but, as she puts it, ‘Yorkshire eventually caught up.’ She goes on to mention the marriage of John Quashee and Rebecca Crosby at Thornton by Pocklington on 12^s. November 1732.

St Michael’s church, Pocklington, the site of John and Rebecca’s wedding?

Audrey goes on to cite 18^th, 19^th and 20^th century examples. One of her 19^th century Yorkshire marriages features John Perry, a Black man born in Annapolis in Nova Scotia in about 1819, who married in Ripon in 1844 and ended his days in Sydney, Australia, having been transported to the penal colony. As an illustration of how ‘entwined’ these stories can become, John Perry has featured in an earlier Historycal Roots article by John Ellis which Audrey references.

Of course, similar stories can be found in virtually any part of the country and there must be people who are puzzled by the results they get back from a DNA test. As Audrey says ‘colour fades quickly if [mixed heritage] children and grandchildren have White partners … and gradually the memory of a Black ancestor fades,’ something my wife and I are only too aware of as we watch our grandson growing up.

Audrey’s article is here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/roots-entwined-inter-racial-families-in-yorkshire/