Black History

Chartism’s Black Activist

Malcolm Chase recalls the life of the Soho tailor William Cuffay, the son of a freed slave from St Kitts, who overcame poverty and disability to become one of the leaders of the Chartist ‘conspiracy’ of 1848.

Blacks in Tudor England

Marika Sherwood reveals the state of our knowledge – and ignorance – about a period of our multi-racial past.

A Royal Gentleman of Colour

Ben Shephard looks at the career of Peter Lobengula, the African ‘Prince’ who tantalised the British press and public and died in poverty in Salford in 1913, highlighting Victorian attitudes towards race, colour and sex.

Mary Seacole

Ziggi Alexander and Audrey Dewjee consider the life of a remarkable Victorian woman.