BLACK AND ASIAN PEOPLE IN THE LOCAL HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Why invisible? If you look at most history books, whether dealing with general British history or local history, you will find very few references to Black people. Yet we know that there have been Black people in this county for many hundreds of years, and that there have been county associations with innumerable numbers of Black and Asian people over that period.

Consider: if we ask anyone to name a nurse associated with the Crimean War, it is likely that the name Florence Nightingale will emerge. If asked to name another nurse, very few people will be able to name someone. Mary Seacole, a Black nurse, was well known at the time, and was mentioned by William Russell, the Times war correspondent on more than one occasion. "I have seen her go down under fire with her little store of creature comforts for our wounded men, and a more skilful hand about a wound or a broken limb could not be found among our best surgeons."

Mary Seacole’s name will not be found in many history books, and yet Russell, as well as ‘Punch’ magazine, knew her well. She was not allowed to go as part of the official group of nurses, so she made her own way to the Crimea. As important for us, she had a very strong connection with the county, having known many officers and men of the 48^th Regiment of Foot, later known as the 1^st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment. They served in Jamaica (1844 – 1847) and in the Crimean War.

If we turn to the county itself, we have firm evidence that at least 3 Black people were living here in the 4^th century, having arrived as part of the Roman army. That they were free men is not in dispute: in a recent excavation at Stanwick, the remains of these three men were found (among nearly three hundred), and one of them was buried with his artefacts. He can be therefore presumed to have been of high caste. It is reasonable assume that there were many others at the time: it is also reasonable to assume that some, at least, would have settled and had children with local women. It is highly probable that these Roman soldiers were originally from that part of the Roman Empire that included a large part of Northern Africa.

Due to the lack of written records over many hundreds of years, we need to look at all kinds of evidence for a Black presence. Excavations are a huge help, so, too, are pictures. From the 16^th century onwards, there are numerous paintings that tell us more of the presence of Black and Asian people here. There is a picture of Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu with her Black slave, dated 1723. Another picture, at Althorp House, shows a slave called Caesar Shaw. We know that Shaw was baptised in this county and was owned by Charles Spencer, and that ‘ownership’ passed to Spencer’s younger brother John who inherited Althorp in the 1740s.

By this time we can assume a fairly firm connection between the presence of the ‘fashionable’ black slave, often depicted in the rich family surroundings where he had been brought, and the slave trade.

It is probable that nearly all of these rich families had a vested interest in it. This became clear to us when we researched the grave of Charles Bacchus. He is buried in Culworth churchyard: his tombstone records that Charles Bacchus (an African) died on 31 March 1762, at the age of 16. His owner was Richard Bond, who had moved to Culworth from Haselbech, where Bacchus had been baptised in 1754 (aged 8).

Some years later, after Bond had died, there was a family dispute over his will. In 1792, the Bond plantations in Jamaica were valued at £59,000 : this was an enormous amount of money for that time. More importantly, it establishes a direct link between slavery, the appearance of Charles Bacchus and the building of large houses in the county. (A further link in the next century was the sale of boots, made in the county’s factories, that were sold to the West Indies to ensure that the slaves who worked in the plantations were shod).

The Montagu family of Boughton (near Kettering) had a succession of Black servants/slaves: the most outstanding of these was Ignatio Sanchez, who entered the service of the family in 1749 shortly after the death of the second Duke. Sancho had spent his childhood in Greenwich, after his birth on a slave ship bound from Africa to the Caribbean. Both of his parents were lost before he was two.

As a clever and determined youth, Sancho learnt to read and write (despite a lack of encouragement!), and was admitted into the household, because of his talents, as a butler. After some years of working in the household, he was able to retire and in 1773 opened a grocer’s shop in Westminster. While in service with the Montagus, he was able to develop his skills in writing and musical composition. He developed an acquaintance with a wide circle of literary and musical friends: among these were the actor Garrick, the writers Johnson and Sterne, as well as the politician Charles James Fox. After his death, there was a short biography published on him, as well as the publication of his letters.

From the parish registers, we are able to get a much clearer picture of the number of Black and Asian people. Parish registers, at least up until the middle of the 19^th century, often noted that a person was Black, be it for baptismal or burial records. Thus we are able to read the following:-

"A Negroe youth known here by the name of Titus, was baptised by ye name of John. Jan 3," (Guilsborough Register of Baptisms, 1683).

"A Black Widow was buried (no name given) on 15^th December 1697" (Yardley Hastings – Burials).

"William Scipio, Mrs O’Brian’s Black. Born at Bengal aged about 7 years, baptised August 15^th 1714".(Blatherwycke Register of Marriages and Burials 1689 – 1783).

"Hannibal Gambia, a Black boy from Africa was baptised Sept. 29^th 1734". (Stanford Register).

"Mary Hammond (a Black woman formally servant of Mrs Eliz. Creed) was buried Nov. 13^th 1737". (Parish Register of Barnwell All Saints).

"Baptised Richard, a Black boy aged 9 years. Born in ye East Indies". (Mandeville July 28^th 1751).

"11.8.1781 – Henry de Graaf (a Black servant of Mr John de Graaf, late Governor of St Eustatia, a prisoner here on his parole) aged as it seems, near 30, was baptised". (Parish Register of All Saints, Northampton).

Countywide, we can see evidence of a Black presence. Not all of these people were from the Caribbean – some almost certainly came directly from Africa, while others came from the Indian sub-continent. If we bear in mind that there were probably about 20,000 people in London in the 18^th century, of Black and Asian origin, then it is not too surprising that there was a noticeable number in this county.

Apart from the trade in slaves, it is most probable that some women had come here, in the position of wet-nurses or nannies, and that some may have arrived here after the end of the American War of Independence. In that war, Black slaves had been promised their freedom if they fought on the side of the British Army – many did so, and many hundreds did come to Britain as a result, at the end of the war.

The 19^th century saw a great increase in the written, and other, records of Black people in the county, as well as a record of local white people and their involvement in the anti-slavery movement. A tombstone at Blatherwycke records the death, in 1815, of Antony Williams, who died as a result of saving his master from drowning. There is a record of a burial on 28 May 1865 of Catherine Prentice, "an African nurse to the Rev. G.A.F. Watson", in Woodford by Thrapston.

The best-known local person who fought against slavery was William Knibb, whose permanent memorial lies in the Kettering coat-of-arms. On this coat-of-arms there are two standing figures, one of whom is Black and who bears a broken manacle on one wrist. Knibb was born and bred in Kettering, and he went to Jamaica in the 1820s initially as a teacher, but soon as a Baptist preacher. He was the pastor of Falmouth Baptist Church in Jamaica from 1830-1845. He upset the local plantation owners, as well as the Church of England. On his return to England in 1832, he spoke vigorously against slavery: after the 1833 Act was passed, he spoke out in Jamaica just as strongly, against the tardy way in which emancipation was being approached. It was largely due to his efforts that complete emancipation was achieved on 1^st August 1838.

After the death of Livingstone in 1873, the two Africans who were responsible for ensuring that his body was transported to the coast, and hence carried to this country, themselves actually arrived here. Suma and Susi stayed for a year in the rectory at Twywell, where Livingstone had friends. The two Africans gave help in sorting Livingstone’s papers: when the job was complete, Susi married a French woman and settled locally. (We have learnt that a Granddaughter visited the area in 1996).

The 20^th century has brought a much higher profile to the Black and Asian presence in the county: not only has there been a greater number in the county, there has also been a much greater awareness of Black achievement, through the media of newspapers, radio, television and books. One of the first high profile Blacks was Walter Tull, the first Black footballer to play for Northampton Town, from 1911 to 1914. It is known that Walter Tull lived in Rushden, and that racism had curtailed his career at Tottenham Hotspur. Tull joined the army in December 1914; after coming back to England in 1916 to recover from injury, he then became the first Black person to enter officer cadet training.

The Northampton Independent on March 16 1918, carried a report on Second Lieutenant Walter Tull’s gallantry – regrettably, he was shot dead a short while later. Although we know of no memorial to his death and his presence in the county, it is intended that there will be a permanent memorial to him at the Sixfields Stadium in

Northampton. For a Black man, born and brought up in this country, Tull brought great distinction to his life and to those who knew him.

The first Black footballer to play for Northampton Town at League level was another who was born and brought up in this country, but who was also the first Black footballer to be capped for his country – in this case, for Wales. John Parris played for Northampton Town in the last two seasons before the Second World War. Just before the War, in 1938, the first known Asian cricketer played for the county. In 1946, Dr. C.B.Clarke, a West Indies Test player, played a number of matches for the county, whenever work would allow him.

By the time of the Second World War, there were innumerable Black and Asian people settled in the county. The impact that they have made has been considerable, in all walks of life. It is only recently that Northampton has had its first Asian and Black Mayors, Jas Baines and Ulric Gravesande respectively, and now Wellingborough has its first Asian and Black Mayors, Shashi Dholakia and Mike Prescod respectively.

But the history of the 20^th century is very different: it is different because we have a lot of the records of achievement of Black and Asian men and women in front of our noses. We need to record all of those achievements as soon as we can so that nothing is lost. An attempt was made to record some of the oral history of some Wellingborough residents, so that we had a record of how and why they settled in Wellingborough.

We need to record as much as we can, and, if it is possible, to put written material in an archive. Future generations will then know where to search for all the indications of Black and Asian achievement.

If we are able to do that, there will not be the same problems as we have had in the past, in writing about the ‘Invisible Settlers’. Next time, they will be highly visible! What do we really know of these early settlers? What happened to them? What happened to their descendants? How many of us may be the descendants of slaves? What was it like to be uprooted, to be the plaything of a rich lady? What happened to so many, to die away from their parents, to die away from their country, to die not knowing their mother tongue?

Beyond this, it is important that Black and Asian History is recorded: if it is not, how then can history be taught, to ensure that a very important part of our local, and national history is known to everyone? If a nationally known figure, like Mary Seacole, is not mentioned in our history books, how much more difficult will it be to teach about our local history?

When we began to research the history behind the tombstone of Charles Bacchus, in Culworth, we talked to the Head of Culworth Primary School. We were moved by her words: "Anything that you can find out about Charles Bacchus is important, because I want the children in this school to know as much as possible about their heritage". We all felt that this summed up everything about Charles Bacchus, everything about what education is about, and everything about the presence of Black and Asian people in our County.

If you would like to pass on any information about any aspect of Local Black History, or if you would like to help in any way, please contact either;

Paul Crofts on (01933) 278000 e-mail to racialeq@aol.com or Neville Cornwell on (01223) 300744.