Today is a day for quiet reflection as we honour the sacrifices of all members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty in all conflicts and wars since those who laid down their lives in the First World War. This is the day in 1918 when the guns fell silent on the Western Front after more than four years of fighting.
But if today is about ‘remembering’, then it should not only be about the Western Front, the 1914-18 war was indeed a World War and few places were untouched by it.
I followed a link on the BBC website this morning to an article entitled ‘What role did the British Empire play in the war?’ I thought this ‘Bitesize’ article would be illuminating. It was, but perhaps not in the way I had hoped.
I learnt that ‘British colonies sent over two and a half million men to fight for Britain during the war.’ They came from ‘India’ (which the article adds, at that time included Pakistan and Bangladesh) and ‘colonies as far away as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Rhodesia (which is now Zimbabwe) also sent thousands of soldiers.’ ‘Bitesize’ history indeed.
Perhaps it is unfair to expect the full story from a self proclaimed ‘bitesize’ piece, but that shouldn’t stop us from filling in some of the gaps. Britain’s colonies in the area of the the Caribbean sent around 15,600 men to serve in the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR), a small number in the grand scheme of things but that doesn’t mean their contribution should be forgotten.
There is a book by Dominiek Dendooven which covers the presence of the BWIR on the Western Front and there will soon be a book covering the contribution of the 1st and 2nd battalions of the BWIR (we are spending today proof reading it!). These men, around two thousand of them, trained at a camp at Seaford in Sussex and then went on to serve in campaigns in Egypt and Palestine and also in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) and in East Africa, a few also served in Flanders. They served with distinction but many never returned to their homes and are commemorated from Dar-es-Salaam to Basra and many places in between. Their stories have never previously been told.
We have new articles this month from regular contributors, John Ellis and Audrey Dewjee. The fact we are in Black History Month is purely coincidental, at Historycal Roots, every month is Black History Month!
John tells us of three more Black soldiers in World War One.
Lance-Corporal Joseph AW Peterson, Hampshire Regiment, service No.17350
I know that John was irritated by criticism of the film 1917 when it was released in 2019. It garnered high praise for its technical brilliance (seemingly shot in one continuous take although, in fact, there were some barely noticeable edits), and for its unvarnished depiction of the horror of war. One reviewer said:
This film is overwhelming. I have nothing further to add, other than the compelling need for eternal remembrance to those who sacrificed their lives in any way, we can not fathom.
But there were those who criticised the ‘unrealistic’ inclusion of Black and Asian soldiers which allegedly arose from a need to appear ‘woke’:
All movie producers these days are under pressure to kneel before the “Woke” generation and showcase minorities, even if it couldn’t have happened.
When I asked Google A1 about this I got the following response:
The 2019 film ‘1917’ features black soldiers, but their presence with integrated British infantry units was largely an artistic choice to reflect that the war was a global conflict, rather than an accurate depiction of military integration at the time While black soldiers did serve in the war, they were typically in separate units or labor corps, with a few exceptions like Walter Tull, a black officer in the Middlesex Regiment.
Sadly more and more people will get their ‘history’ filtered by AI rather than from the whole series of articles that John has written on the subject. AI can be helpful, of course, but clearly there are huge risks if we come to rely on it.
Not content with that, John has also written about Private C Calvert, who served in the Middlesex Regiment in WW1. We would not know of Private Calvert were it not for a very brief item that appeared in the Daily Mirror on 1st September 1915:
Audrey takes us further back into British history, to the proclamation issued by the Lord Mayor of London on 14th September 1731:
‘for the future no Negroes or other Blacks be suffered to be bound apprentices at any of the Companies of this City’.
As you will read, the Aldermen of the City of London were clearly having second thoughts about granting the Freedom of the City of London just one week earlier to John Satia. Originally from Barbados, Satia had been brought to England as a servant and subsequently served an apprenticeship. Completing the apprenticeship ‘entitled’ him to the Freedom of the City, which was duly granted on 14th September 1731.
Keen that London shouldn’t have it all its own way, Audrey introduces us to John Moore who gained the Freedom of York even earlier, on 29th September 1687. As freemen these men would have been entitled to vote in General Elections and may well have done so.
We don’t write about Samuel Coleridge-Taylor as often as we should, he featured in one of our first posts (in 2016) and a few since, but he was one of our main inspirations when we started Historycal Roots and we welcome any excuse to write about him again. Although he has never been ‘hidden history’ (he was hugely famous in the 1890s and early years of the 20th century), he undeniably fell out of fashion for several decades before making a comeback in recent years. Now, as we approach the 150th anniversary of his birth on 15th August 1875, it would be remiss of us not to take the opportunity to celebrate his life.
The Three Choirs Festival (the choirs of Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford) gave him a big break when, at the age of twenty-three, he was invited to write an orchestral work for the 1898 festival, hosted that year by Gloucester. It was, the already famous, Edward Elgar who put his name forward to the festival organisers, describing him as ‘by far and away the cleverest fellow amongst the younger men.’ The piece Coleridge-Taylor wrote for that year’s festival, ‘Ballade in A Minor’, was a great success and is still performed today. A review in The Morning Post commented that although the composer was ‘hitherto little, if at all, known in Gloucester … the Music Committee was fully justified in asking him to contribute to this year’s Festival scheme.’ We might raise an eyebrow today at the description of the music as ‘half untamed’ and ‘half barbaric’ but the review goes on to say that ‘few composers have been greeted in so cordial a manner at a first appearance or received such an ovation as followed the conclusion of the Ballad.’[1]The MorningPost, 15<sup>th</sup> September 1898
For anyone unfamiliar with it, you can hear it here (NB: I tried but failed to find a version without intrusive adverts, you can skip them after a few seconds, but it is, nonetheless, annoying. It’s the price you have to pay to watch brilliant music for free on You Tube):
His offerings for subsequent festivals, ‘ASolemn Prelude‘ (1899); ‘The Soul’s Expression’ (1900); and ‘Idyll’ (1901), were less successful and have rarely been heard since. So far our searches have found no reviews of these concerts although we did find this programme for the 1899 concert.
This underwhelming run did not prevent an invitation to write a piece for the 1903 festival hosted by Hereford. It was a revival of that work, The Atonement, that drew us to Hereford cathedral on 31st July 2025.
As we settled into our seats in the glorious nave of the cathedral we weren’t sure what to expect, the piece had not been performed since its premiere in 1903 – perhaps there was a reason for this?
We are not musicologists or music reviewers, we go to concerts to listen to the music and, hopefully, enjoy it. Coleridge Taylor’s ‘The Atonement’ kept us fully engaged throughout its 85 minutes, it was long but it didn’t feel long. The choir and soloists were excellent as was the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Samuel Hudson. We enjoyed it a lot and were glad we took the trouble to attend.
As we left, we chatted to one of the ushers who commented that the libretto (the words) was ‘all over the place’ and this is a comment that is reflected in an excellent piece written by John Quinn about the work in general and this performance in particular. Quinn’s article is honest about what he sees as the weaknesses of the composition as well as praising its strengths:
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor died in 1912 and Quinn concedes that ‘had he lived longer, Coleridge-Taylor might have revised the work or, more likely, have produced much better choral/orchestral compositions.’ In fact, his best known work, ‘Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast’, was first performed on 11th November 1898 just two months after the Ballade in A Minor received its premier in Gloucester and almost five years before ‘The Atonement’ premiered. It is tantalising to think what he might have achieved had he lived longer.
We can only repeat that, whatever its weaknesses, we enjoyed ‘The Atonement’.
One disappointment was that among an audience of around seven hundred we counted just three people of colour, classical music apparently remains a closed book for a great many people.
There was a photo in the programme that accompanied the concert showing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (in the front, just to the left of the conductor) at the 1903 premier. It is a poor quality image but we include it for its historic interest:
The premier took place at the Shire Hall, a short walk from the cathedral. It is a splendid building and, although the decor is very much less elaborate than it was in 1903, it is recognisably the space where the above picture was taken:
During our visit to Hereford we visited the Town Hall mistaking it for the Shire Hall (the Shire Hall would not have been accessible to us anyway). It also has a very grand interior space:
Opened in 1905, it seems curious that Hereford should have two such similar spaces but this probably gives a good indication of the vibrancy of cultural life in the city at the turn of the century.
As this is a significant anniversary we hope that there will be other opportunities to celebrate this Black British composer. There has already been a CD released containing a number of his less well known works including Toussaint L’Ouverture (described as ‘a swashbuckling portrait in sound’ by the reviewer in Gramophone magazine)[3]The CD is on the Avie label, AV2763 and, as is the modern way, can be listened to on Spotify if you have access to that service. It was reviewed in Gramophone‘s September 2025 issue.. Two pieces were also featured in the Great British Classics BBC Promenade concert on 5th August (Isle of Beauty and The Evening Star)[4]https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002gdll (only available in the UK) and, on 5th September, we will be at the Royal Albert Hall to hear Sir Simon Rattle conduct another piece, ‘The Bamboula’. All BBC Prom concerts are available to listen to in full for, I believe, at least a month after they are broadcast. Do check out this glorious music and, unlike You Tube or Spotify, it costs nothing to listen!
The CD is on the Avie label, AV2763 and, as is the modern way, can be listened to on Spotify if you have access to that service. It was reviewed in Gramophone‘s September 2025 issue.
Today we note the sad passing of Raymond Henry (Ray) Costello.
We first met Ray in 2016 when we attended an event in Manchester for the launch of his book, Black Tommies. We nervously approached him after his talk, he was a Professor and the author of numerous books and we were, frankly, nobodies. Many academics can come across as aloof and full of their own importance, Ray was neither of these things. He readily engaged in conversation and took a keen interest in the project we were working on about Black soldiers in World War One. He was warm and engaging and we stayed in touch. He may not have realised it but we came to regard him as a mentor and, between ourselves, referred to him as ‘Uncle Ray’.
With Ray at the Black Salt exhibition
We made several visits to Liverpool and he was always happy to meet up and talk. He treated us to a guided walk round some of the less well-known Black history sites in Liverpool and to a personal tour of the ‘Black Salt’ exhibition at the International Slavery Museum, an exhibition that celebrated his own book of that title and which he had curated. He also treated us to more than one meal!
Ray was keen to help us understand just how far back British Black history goes and shared his concern that, important though it undoubtedly was, there was a danger that focusing too much on the Empire Windrush might obscure all the history that preceded it. He also told us ‘you’ll never make money out of writing books’ (we were working on one at the time) and he was right about that!
Ray was kind and generous with his time and happy to share his vast knowledge of Liverpool’s long Black history. He had no particular interest in football but helped when we were writing Football’s Black Pioneers by mentioning that he remembered a member of a long-established Black Liverpool family had played for Tranmere Rovers. We dug into it and he was right, of course, and the intriguing story of Albert Payne emerged.
Ray visited London on more than one occasion to support events where we were speaking, he didn’t have to do that and we are so grateful that he did.
Ray had been seriously ill for several years so news of his death was a shock but not a surprise, it still came as a big blow. Ray was a titan of Black British history and we are privileged to have called him a friend.
Born in Trinidad in 1925, Prince Albert (Jake) Jacob left his homeland at the age of 17½ to serve with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War.
In 1948 he married a white girl, Mary Gore, at Oldbury Register Office. They faced tremendous hostility from her family, not a single family member attended the wedding, and from their local community, but stayed together for many decades.
With wife Mary on their Wedding Day, 27th April 1948
Jake celebrated his 100th birthday on 9th July 2025. We wish him a very happy birthday and it is our pleasure to share the story of a remarkable life.
If you have ever had the task of sorting through old family photos, you will know the frustration of not being able to put names to faces. Perhaps you recognise your mother as a young woman, or some other relative, but who are those other people in the picture?
I have just been shown a photo of a woman seated with a young child on either side of her and a rather splendid teddy bear at her feet. Fortunately my wife is able to tell me that this is her grandmother with her two children. I have met all three, perhaps sixty or seventy years or so after the picture was taken, but without my wife’s prompting I could not have put names to their faces. Having your picture taken in a studio would have been a big deal and it shows in the slightly stilted poses, except perhaps the child I know as ‘Aunty Claudette’ who looks as though she might burst out of the shot were it not for her mother’s gently restraining grip.
Usually, putting names to faces is harder to do. But sometimes diligent research combined with a slice of good fortune can fill in the gaps. The photo below is of a group of ATS recruits who came to England for training in October 1943.
The photo, which comes from the National Army Museum’s collection, has been used many times but never with their names attached.
Until now!
This link will take you to an updated version of Audrey Dewjee’s article about the ATS women who came from the Caribbean to serve. The names of these nine ladies have now been included:
We aren’t always so lucky. In October 2024 we published this photo of a young woman taken in Powys, North Wales, probably in the 1890s, and asked for help identifying her. So far her identity remains a mystery.
I mentioned that luck is often a factor, that’s what we need in this case. If anyone has any clues please get in touch.
On 19th May I gazed out of a train window and wondered why I was making the journey. I was heading towards the market town of Hawes, deep in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. I mused that in the time it was taking to get to Hawes from south London, well over four hours, I could have reached the capital city of virtually any European country (Nicosia, Cyprus would have taken longer but that’s about it I think).
I had never visited the Dales before but when I heard that Audrey Dewjee was delivering a talk on the hidden Black and Asian history of the area it had seemed like a good opportunity to rectify the omission. But I was having second thoughts as I watched the countryside roll past. The view was nice, the sheep looked contented as they grazed their way towards someone’s Sunday dinner table, but could there really be much Black and Asian history hidden here?
When I first started taking an interest in this history, I had the pre-conceived notion that it could be found in London, Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff, obviously, and perhaps some other urban centres too, but with the help of expert guides (like Audrey and John Ellis) my understanding has blossomed. Historycal Roots describes itself as an educational site, well, it has certainly educated me!
Is there Black and Asian history hidden in the Yorkshire Dales? Undoubtedly, and Audrey’s talk did not disappoint. It demonstrated clearly that there is Black history everywhere if you open your eyes and take the trouble to look for it. She has kindly shared her talk with us and you can read it here:
On Saturday the 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the British Army sustained 57,000 casualties, still the bloodiest day in British military history.
In just under five months, The Somme would claim 300,000 British troops and an estimated 1 million casualties on all sides.
John Ellis has identified the presence of a number of Black British troops at the Somme, just putting ‘somme’ into the website’s search box brings up many articles:
But perhaps today of all days should just be a day of quiet reflection on the ultimate sacrifice made by so many men of all races, nationalities and creeds.
We pride ourselves at Historycal Roots on presenting original research, new stories that you won’t find elsewhere, but occasionally we come across something too good not to share. With thanks to Audrey Dewjee for bringing it to our attention, we highly recommend this programme from the BBC:
Because it is on IPlayer it can only be accessed from within the UK and it is only available for a limited period of time (about a month), so do watch it while you can. The programme is presented by Griff Rhys Jones whose father was a doctor in the British Army during World War Two. Jones senior was sent to Burma as part of British efforts to fend off Japanese attempts to invade India. Key to the campaign was the use of Black soldiers from West Africa (The Gold Coast, now Ghana). Whilst I was aware of the Burma campaign, the fact that Black African soldiers played such an important role was entirely new to me. A number of the veterans are still alive and share their memories.
Griff Rhys Jones sums up:
A lot of people are completely unaware that a huge amount of the fighting was done by Indian, Gurkha and African troops.
Audrey Dewjee has alerted us to the sad news that Sir Geoff Palmer has passed. He was best known as a brilliant scientist but he understood the importance of Black History and devoted much of his later years to research and sharing what he knew. He was a great role model and inspiration for the young.
Now considered an intellectual giant, when he arrived in Britain in 1955 he was labelled “educationally subnormal” by the racist education system of the time.
He went on to become professor emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University and this article about him was published on the Edinburgh University website in June 2024: https://global.ed.ac.uk/uncovered/1960/geoff-palmer
During our visit to Hereford we visited the Town Hall mistaking it for the Shire Hall (the Shire Hall would not have been accessible to us anyway). It also has a very grand interior space:
