Ira
Aldridge 1807 - 1867
Realising
that a Black man could not succeed in 'serious' theatre in the USA,
Aldridge came to Britain in 1824; attended the University of Glasgow
where he gained a gold medal for excellence in Latin composition.
He made his theatre debut, using the name of Keane, in 1825 playing
the lead role in The Revolt of Surinam at London's Royal Coburg theatre,
where he remained for 6 weeks playing various roles. The London press
was very critical of the untrained young Black actor. To gain more experience
he undertook a provincial tour, lasting seven years, during which he
played Othello as well an other new roles. He often ended his performances
by singing anti-slavery songs or delivering anti-slavery addresses.
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 probably lived in Nth America for
some time as he married a Black Canadian. The couple settled in Battersea,
South London where John opened a photography studio; his work won many
prizes.
Archer's political involvements resulted in his giving up reading for
the Bar. 1900 saw him at the first Pan-African Conference held in London.
In 1906 he won the local election as a Progressive and became the first
British-born Black councillor. Three years later he lost his seat but
was re-elected in 1912; he was elected mayor in 1913, thus becoming
the first-ever Black mayor in the UK. His fame spread to the USA. In
1919 he won his seat again, this time as a Labour candidate. He helped
the radical socialist Charlotte Despart with her campaign, and in 1922,
having given up his council seat became election agent for Shapurji
Saklatvala, campaigning for a seat in Parliament as a Communist.
Address: 55 Brynmaer Road, Battersea Park; 214 Battersea Park
Rd
See Sean Creighton, John Archer: Battersea's Black Progressive and Labour
Activist, London: Agenda Services 1999; and Peter Fryer, Staying Power,
London 1985.
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William
Afflick c. 1787 - 1855
As far as we know at the moment, Afflick was the most decorated Afro-Caribbean
soldier in the Napoleonic British Army, receiving both the Waterloo
Medal and the Military General Service Medal, 1793-1814 with
four clasps for Sahagun & Benavente, (one shared clasp),
Vittoria, Orthes and Toulouse, (making him one of the 10th's most decorated
enlisted veterans of the Napoleonic Wars). Afflick spoke out against
flogging in the military. Address: 45 Gore Lane ["Gore" crossed out
and "Park" substituted]. (1851 Census: 30 March 1851. William Affleck.
Head. Married. 62 years. Chelsea Pensioner (Barber). West Indies (British
subject). Ann Affleck. Wife. Married. 45 years. Dressmaker.)
Death Certificate: Registration District: St. George Hanover Square.
Year. 1855. Subdistrict. Belgrave. In the County of. Middlesex. No.
395. When & where died: Seventh May 1855. St. George Hospital.
Name & Surname. William Afflick.
Sex. Male.
Age. 68 years.
Occupation. Coloured native of St. Kitts, WI. A Barber at St. Georges
Hospital. Chelsea Pensioner 10th Hussars.
Cause of death. Senile Gangrene. Signature, description & residence
of informant. Ann Afflick. Present at the death. 36 Gore Lane, Kensington
Gore. When registered. Ninth May 1855. Registrar. William Price Jordan.
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Duse
Mohamed Ali 1866 - 1945
author, publisher of African times & Orient Review 1912-1920,
political activist in Britain, the USA and finally in Lagos, where he
also published and edited The Comet. The AT&OR offices were at 158 Fleet
Street. The son of an Egyptian army officer and his Sudanese wife, Duse
Mohamed was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1866 and died in Lagos, Nigeria
in 1945. In 1875 his father sent him to England to be educated in 1875;
he read history at King's College, London University and then joined
the theatre, travelling with the companies of Wilson Barrett and Beerbohm
Tree, as well as writing plays of his own. In London he became associated
with the Woking Mosque.
In 1911 his book, In the Land of the Pharaohs, was published,
arguing for 'nationalist movement and the ultimate freedom of Egypt,
at least from the British yoke, and a most scathing denunciation of
British rule in Egypt'. In 1912 he founded what became a major journal
of anti-colonial thought and feeling: The African Times and Orient
Review. Except for the disruptive war years of 1915-1917 the journal
ran from 1912 to 1920, sometimes as a monthly and for a while as a weekly.
It was widely distributed in the Black and Islamic Worlds. In1912-13
Marcus Garvey worked for the journal. Ali was a member of many organisations,
including the African Progress Union founded in 1918.
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M.
Bhownagree 1851 -1933
First Asian-born Conservative and longest-serving Indian MP (Bethnal
Green 1895-1906); lawyer; chair of the Parsee Association of Europe,
author, translator. Supported the Aliens Bill of 1905, anti Home Rule
for Ireland and generally a pro-imperialist Sir M.Bhownagree was the
MP for Bethnal Green North East for ten years. Born in Bombay in 1851.
He was called to the Bar in 1885. Bhownagree made links with Indian
students living in London and made himself involved in their welfare
and education.
In addition to this he lobbied Parliament for the rights of Indian subjects
and also for the rights of Indians living in South Africa.
The Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918,
lists Sir Mancherjee Merwanjee Bhownaggree's address as 196 Cromwell
Road, London.
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