Stories

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  Dido Elizabeth Belle

  Born in the Caribbean, Dido Belle was a mixed-race woman raised as part of an aristocratic family in Georgian Britain.  

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  The Somerset case

  The Somerset v Stewart ruling in 1772 was a landmark in the progress towards the abolition of slavery in England, bringing the injustice of the slave trade to public attention.

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  Black Lives in 18th-century Britain

  We take a look at the lives of black people – including soldiers, servants and independent citizens – who lived in the shadow of slavery in 18th-century Britain.

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  The Black Prisoners of Portchester

  Read the extraordinary story of a group of over 2,500 prisoners of war taken to Portchester Castle from St Lucia in 1796.

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  James Chappell

  The heroic actions of James Chappell after an explosion on Guernsey in 1672 were enshrined in legend.

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  Sarah Forbes Bonetta

  Read the extraordinary life story of the African child who was ‘gifted’ to Queen Victoria and became her protégée.

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  Lead Figurine of an African Warrior

  Find out how recent research into a Roman figurine of an African found at Wall Roman Site in Staffordshire has resulted in a reinterpretation of its identity.

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  Voices of the Windrush Generation

  Author and historian Colin Grant shares the story of a generation of pioneers in their own words, tracing their history from the 1947 British Nationality Act to the Windrush Scandal of 2018.

Blue Plaques

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  Ellen and William Craft

  Ellen and William Craft were African American freedom fighters who escaped from enslavement in Georgia and in 1851 fled to Britain, where they supported anti-slavery efforts.

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  J S Risien Russell

  JS Risien Russell was a pioneering figure in the emerging discipline of neurology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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  Claudia Jones

  Claudia Jones was a ceaseless campaigner for racial justice and is credited with having been among the first to bring Caribbean carnival to London.

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  Laurie Cunningham

  Laurie Cunningham was the first black footballer to play for England in a competitive match and the first Englishman to play for Real Madrid.

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  Ottobah Cugoano

  Ottobah Cugoano was an anti-slavery campaigner and one of the first formerly enslaved people to write and publish a text in the English language. 

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  Mary Seacole

  The Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole set up a hotel in the war-torn Crimea to provide shelter, food and treatment for injured soldiers.

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  Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

  The composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor achieved international fame for his trilogy of cantatas, ‘The Song of Hiawatha’.

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  John Richard Archer

  John Archer was the former Mayor of Battersea and the first black person to hold a senior public office in London.

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  Elisabeth Welch

  Singer Elisabeth Welch was one of Britain’s best-loved interpreters of popular song. Her recording career spanned eight decades and encompassed New York, Paris and London.

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  Sir Learie Constantine

  The cricketer and statesman Sir Learie Constantine became Britain’s first black peer in 1969.

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  Jimi Hendrix

  The guitarist and songwriter Jimi Hendrix became an overnight sensation with the release of his band’s first single, ‘Hey Joe’, in 1966.

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  Bob Marley

  Bob Marley was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He is commemorated with a blue plaque on the house where he and The Wailers finished recording their iconic album Exodus.

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  Dr Harold Moody

  The campaigner for racial equality Dr Harold Moody founded the League of Coloured Peoples in 1931.

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  Ira Aldridge

  In 1833 Ira Aldridge became the first black actor to play Othello on a West End stage.

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  Jomo Kenyatta

  Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of Kenya after the country won independence from the British Empire in 1963.

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  Kwame Nkrumah

  Kwame Nkrumah helped secure Ghana’s independence from Britain in 1957 and became the country’s first Prime Minister and President.

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  Marcus Garvey

  Marcus Garvey was a black nationalist who became an inspirational figure for later civil rights activists.

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  Cetshwayo

  Cetshwayo kaMpande was king of the Zulus during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. In 1882, he visited London and stayed at 18 Melbury Road in Holland Park.

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  Solomon T Plaatje

  The South African writer Solomon T Plaatje was a significant campaigner for African rights and played a pioneering role in the emergence of African literature.

Shout Out Loud

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  Freedom and Revolution

  In 1807 a play was staged at Portchester Castle about the revolution in Haiti. In collaboration with the National Youth Theatre we are reimagining this play, switching the focus away from the original colonial male perspective, and retelling it from a Black female point of view.

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  Stories, Sites and Sounds

  Members of the Chineke! Junior Orchestra explored the lives of three historical figures, including Sarah Forbes Bonetta and Dido Belle, and then created incredible pieces of music inspired by their stories.

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  Tilbury is the Place for Me

  Working with Kinetika, Anthony Joseph, Kinetika Bloco band and the Migration Museum, this project explored Tilbury’s migration history and sense of place, by creating a new calypso song.