At a recent BASA Management Committee meeting the issue of putting forward
names of black and Asian historic figures to English Heritage in order for
commemorative blue plaques to be erected on (or near the site of) their
former UK residences was discussed.
Altho' proposals have been submitted by individual members of BASA for many
years this is the first time that the Association plans to co-ordinate a
UK-wide campaign involving nominations from the entire membership.
For information: English Heritage (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/), the
body responsible for awarding blue plaques in the UK since 1986, are able to
consider suggestions for plaques if the people being proposed have been dead
for twenty years or were born 100 years ago, whichever is the earlier. They
also state that for a nomination to be considered the figure needs to have a
"strong reputation" and gained recognition through their life and work.
BASA's secretary, Marika Sherwood, has been in contact with representatives
of English Heritage on this issue and, to-date, has identified that plaques
currently exist for the following figures:
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Mahatma Gandhi
Jimi Hendrix
Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Jomo Kenyatta
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Harold Moody
Jawaharlal Nehru
Sardar Patel
Paul Robeson,
Ram Mohum Roy
Vinayak Savarkar
Rabindranath Tagore
Lokamanya Tilak
Sol Plaatje.
[In addition plaques for Marcus Garvey, Ignatius Sancho and Bob Marley are
under consideration, but given that in London alone some 800 plaques have
already been erected since 1986, this current list of <15-18 names is not
fully representative of the contributions and achievements of Britain's
numerous black and Asian pioneers and key figures]
Please circulate your suggestions via this list - including dates, main
place(s) of residence in the UK (if known) and a brief statement about why
your nominees deserve a blue plaques, as English Heritage will need to
consider the merit of the nomination as well as verify all the surviving
places of residence as part of their research and assessment).
Suggestions can also be sent to BASA post, c/o Marika Sherwood, BASA
Secretary, ICS, 28 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DS.
To get the discussion started I've listed a few suggestions of my own below:
John Richard Archer (1863 - 1932)
John Archer was born in Liverpool in 1863, the son of a Barbadian seaman and
an Irish mother. He left Merseyside in his early 20's, travelling around the
world as a seaman, and later settling in Battersea, South London, with his
Black Canadian wife, Bertha. Whilst in London he worked as a photographer
and became involved in local politics. He came to prominence in 1906 when he
won the local election and became the first British born Black Labour
councillor. In November 1913 John Archer was elected the tenth Mayor of
Battersea. In addition to his work in local government, he was also heavily
involved in the African Progress Union, and became its President in 1918,
working with many leading Black political figures of his time. Throughout
his political career he spoke out about racism and the social issues facing
Black peoples in Britain. In particular Archer helped to organise an
anti-racism protest in Liverpool in response to the riots of 1919.
Pastor Kamal A. Chunchie (1886 - 1953)
Founder of the Coloured Men's Institute in London's East End during the
early 1920s, particularly as a result of the discrimination faced by black
and Asian seamen following racist legislation such as the Coloured Alien
Seamen's Order (1925).
Significant addresses associated with Chunchie and, thus, worthy of blue
plaques include: (1) Coloured Men's Institute, 13-15 Tidal Basin Road,
Victoria Docks (original building was demolished in 1930, but the plaque
could be erected somewhere near to the site as the top floor of the
Institute was Chunchie's residence for c. 4 years); (2) Queen Victoria
Seamen's Rest (The Seamen's Mission of the Methodist Church, 121-131 East
India Dock Road, Poplar, London E14)
Ottobah Cugoano (c.1757 - 1801)
Ghanaian born former slave Ottobah Cugoano came to Britain from Grenada in
c.1772 and was granted his freedom by his master. The black community in
London advised Cugoano to become a Christian, as a further safeguard against
being returned to slavery in the Caribbean. As a free man Cugoano went into
service for a famous painter, Cosway, received an education and began
writing about the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. By 1786
Cugoano's writing had made him one of the central figures in Britain's
anti-slavery movement and in 1787 published an influential book on the
system of slavery, entitled 'Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked
Traffic of Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species'.
William Cuffay (1788 - 1870)
Chatham born William Cuffay was the son of an ex-slave from St. Kitts.
During his early adult life he worked as a tailor and became heavily
involved in trade unionism. In 1839 he became a leading member of the
Chartist movement, campaigning for social justice and parliamentary reform.
William Davidson (1786-1820)
Jamaican-born political reformer involved in what became known as the 'Cato
Street Conspiracy' (London).
Olaudah Equiano (c.1745 - 1797)
Anti-slavery campaigner famous for his autobiography 'The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustuvus Vasa the African',
published in 1789, and active in the campaigns to abolish the slave trade
whilst living in Britain - particularly his research into the Zong atrocity
in association with the Abolitionist Granville Sharp, where over two hundred
slaves were thrown overboard so that the owner could claim the insurance
money.
Joseph Emidy (n.d. - 1835)
Famous violinist who was active in Cornish musical circles since his arrival
in England from Portugal in 1799.
Claudia Jones (1915-1964)
Trinidad-born journalist and political activist Claudia Jones lived in the
UK between 1955-64 and was actively involved in political and cultural
organising among the black communities in London throughout this period. She
is particularly well known for founding and editing The West Indian Gazette
and Afro-Asian Caribbean News and was the founder of what has now become the
Notting Hill Carnival.
Noor Inayat Khan (1914 - 1943)
British SOE secret agent in France during WW2, posthumously awarded the
George Cross, M.B.E. and the Croix de Guerre. Lived in Oxford whilst working
as a nurse for the WAAF in 1940.
Dadabhai Naoroji (1825 - 1916)
Dadabhai Naoroji was the first Indian to run for Parliament in Britain,
becoming MP for Finsbury Park in 1892.
Mary Seacole (1805-1881)
Jamaican-born nurse and heroine of the Crimean War. In 1857 she returned to
the UK and published 'The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many
Lands'. The book was a great success and Mary Seacole became a popular
figure. She spent the rest of her life travelling and working between London
and Kingston. She was awarded the Crimean Medal and the French Legion of
Honour.
Udham Singh (1899-1940)
Indian political activist involved in the work of the Indian Workers
Association, UK. Udham Singh became famous after being convicted and hanged
for the assassination of Michael O'Dwyer, governor of the Punjab at the time
of the 1919 Amritsar (Jallianwallah Bagh) Massacre.
Henry Sylvester Williams (n.d. - 1911)
Henry Sylvester Williams was born and died in Trinidad, but much of his
adult life was spent in the UK. Williams qualified as a teacher at
Tranquillity Normal School and taught in country schools until1890 when he
left for the USA to gain qualifications unobtainable in Trinidad. His
activities in North America are unknown, except for 1893-4, when he attended
Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. Arriving in London in 1896,
Williams enrolled at King's College and was admitted to Gray's Inn in
December 1897.
He earned his living as an official lecturer for the Temperance Society and
later as a lawyer. Throughout his time in England Williams lectured on
colonial issues on many platforms, including a meeting at the House of
Commons in 1899 when he appealed for representative government for Trinidad.
After travelling throughout the UK, he founded the African Association,
which called a Pan-African Conference in July 1900. In the early 1900s
Williams lived in England and South Africa, returning to Trinidad in 1908.
He was admitted to the Bar and soon built a successful practice in
Port-of-Spain and San Fernando. He died on 26 March 1911.
Phyllis Wheatley (c.1753 - 1784)
Senegalese born Phyllis Wheatley was the first black woman to be published
in London. Her book, 'Poems on various subjects: religious and moral'
consisted of 39 poems and sold widely throughout Britain because the works
had been written whilst Wheatley was enslaved by a Boston-based family of
tobacco barons, resident in England between 1773-1778. Abolitionists eager
to prove the "human potential of black people" reissued her poems in the
1830s.
NB: Recipients of blue plaques do not have to be British-born, but need to
have been resident in the UK at some time during their lifetime, as the
primary objective (in the words of English Heritage) is to "mark the
interest of the surviving building".
Best wishes
Carol
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