this is very helpful and put me in mind of Billy Waters (King of the
Beggars). Details of Waters and other black presences are noted in
Black Victorians: Black People in British Art, 1800-1900 edited by Jan
Marsh and at
http://www.virtualmuseum.info/collections/themes/black_brit/html/
people.html
On 7 Jun 2008, at 14:03, SEAN CREIGHTON wrote:
> Angela's query triggered a vague memory of a negro sweeper.
>
> I am sure I recall seeing back in 1994 an image of a London negro road
> sweeper in a catalogue of images which included abolition movement
> images of pottery, medallions, etc. I cannot recall the publisher,
> apart from an inkling that it might have been British Library or
> British Museum. Nor can I remember the date it was published - but
> probably pre-1990. Does this ring a bell with anyone else?
>
> So I started websearching and of course as I have tracked through
> could Angela be on the trail of Jospeh Jenkins? Here's the sequence of
> search findings.
>
> References a negro crossing sweeper can be seen on:
>
>
> http://www.victorianlondon.org/professions/crossingsweeps.htm
>
> and
>
> http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/dickens/etexts/dickens/others/misc/Smith-
> Curiosities
>
> and
>
>
> http://www.thelovelybrothers.co.uk/scamp/mayhew.html
>
> Two of these contain a reference to a negro sweeper and Waithman's
> obelisk erected in the middle of Ludgate Circus. It was removed to
> Bartholomew Close in 1951, and around 1975 to nearby Salisbury Square
> where it is today. (from
> http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/zucconi/biscuit/loony/londonquest/
> londongeometry.htm)
>
> The obelisk features in the story of the 1848 Chartist demonstration:
> http://www.chartists.net/10-April-1848.htm
>
> The obelisk was built in memory of Robert Waithman. The details of its
> erection were recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine of Jan-June 1834
> which has been Google Booked (p. 634)
>
> Mayhew's sweeper is mentioned in Norma Myers Records reconstructing
> the black past. (p.76)
>
> Mayhew's mention is in Vol 2 of London Labour and London Poor.
>
> As I continued to track through the web up popped William Wells
> Brown's reference to Joseph Jenkins whose jobs included Chelsea
> crossing sweeper.
> http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2220/is_2_41/ai_56913409
>
> For more on Jenkins see: Paul Gilmore. The Genuine Article. p. 189.
> Googleised book.
>
> Is it possible that there were three negro sweepers? The one up to
> 1834, Mayhew's and Jenkins?. Or is Jenkins all three, or is Jenkins
> also Mayhew's?
>
> Sean
>
>
> Sean Creighton
> Agenda Services: Development & Heritage Projects
> History & Social Action Publications
> 020 8640 2014
> www.seancreighton.co.uk
> Website updated May: Ken v Boris - the London Mayor Election; Ruth
> Frow's Memorial Event; Colour Blind? Race & Migration in the North
> East since 1945; Is the Water Metering Lobby Unstoppable?;
> Miscellaneous history: slavery & abolition, Black & Asian, Vauxhall,
> Battersea, freemasonry; labour movement; social & community issues;
> miscellaneous; Virgin Trains excels itself
>
|
