Key Figures in Dorset’s Black History
Often we learn about history through the role of key figures who have helped bring about change. The names Thomas Lewis Johnson, Robert Wedderburn, Belle Davis, Lilian Bader or John Stockley might not be familiar yet but their lives, and the lives of other key figures, are well worth knowing about.
By walking in someone else’s shoes we can build empathy and respect for those who may seem very different from ourselves but are actually very similar in how they feel, how they want to be treated and how they want to make a difference to the lives of others.
Exhibitions & Displays
We have a variety of exhibitions and displays of differing sizes available for schools, community groups, libraries and museums to hire.
Andrew Bogle
Scraps-in-Court – Tichborne-v-Lushington
Andrew Bogle
Who was Andrew Bogle?
He was a valet, butler and restauranteur.
Where was he born?
He was born in Jamaica in the early 1800s. The precise date is not known yet. He lived enslaved on a sugar plantation called the Hope Estate in St Andrew’s, Jamaica.
What did he do?
He was brought to England by the estate manager, Edward Tichborne, and worked as his valet when Tichborne came to own Upton House in Poole in 1828. In 1836 in Canford Magna church he married Elizabeth Young who had worked at Upton House as a nurse. They had two sons. Elizabeth died in 1845. When Edward Tichborne died in 1853, Andrew retired with a pension, remarried and moved to Australia with his family where he ran a restaurant.
Whilst Bogle was in Australia, a long-lost family member called Roger Tichborne, who was believed to have died at sea, came to claim the Tichborne Estate. Roger had been living in Australia and in 1871 Andrew had been working as his butler. Andrew was asked to come to England to confirm in court that this was the ‘real’ Roger Tichborne. The court judged the ‘Tichborne Claimant’ an imposter and he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Bogle was thought to have been deceived by him. Bogle later died in London in 1877 and was buried in St Mary’s catholic cemetery.
Why do we know so little about Andrew Bogle?
The lives of black and brown servants were poorly documented as they were largely seen as unimportant. There is evidence about Andrew Bogle’s life and what he looked like because he was a witness in the famous ‘Tichbourne Claimant’ court case. DEED seeks to value stories of those often forgotten or marginalised, such as Andrew Bogle, as an important part of British history.
What do you think Andrew Bogle thought of the Tichbourne family?
Further resources
https://houseboundhistories.wordpress.com/2020/06/15/upton-country-park-poole-dorset/
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146653061
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp86633/andrew-bogle
Lilian Bader
Bader family in Moordown Bournemouth in 1950
Adrian teaching at Poole technical College in 1975
Adrian, Lilian and Geoffrey in 2008 celebrating her 90th birthday
Lilian Bader
Who was Lilian Bader?
She was a member of the RAF (WAAF – Women’s Auxiliary Air Force), Acting Corporal and teacher
Where was she born?
Lilian Bader (née Bailey) was born in Liverpool on 18 February 1918. Her father, Marcus Bailey, was from Barbados and served as a Merchant Seaman in the Royal Navy during the First World War. Her mother, Lilian McGowan, was of Irish heritage. Orphaned at the age of nine, Lilian was brought up in a convent, separated from her two brothers.
What did she do?
Before the Second World War, there was a colour bar in the British Armed Forces. Under an Army Order of 1938, entry into the British Army was restricted to men of pure European descent. The same rules applied to the RAF and Royal Navy with few exceptions. Lilian had tried to join NAAFI (Navy Army Air Force Institute) and had got a job in the canteen, but when her father’s Caribbean heritage was discovered she was made to leave.
When the colour bar was lifted at the start of the Second World War, Lilian tried again and on 28 March 1941 she successfully joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. The Royal Air Force actively began recruiting volunteers from the Caribbean. She found herself "the only coloured person in this sea of white faces," but, "somebody told me I looked smart in my uniform, which cheered me no end."
In the WAAF, Bader trained as an instrument repairer, one of the new trades opened to women in 1940. By the end of 1941, she was a Leading Aircraftwoman (LACW) at RAF Shawbury where she worked long hours checking for faults in the instruments of the aircrafts. She soon gained the rank of Acting Corporal.
In 1943, Lilian married Ramsay Bader, a British-born soldier who served as a tank driver and was also of mixed heritage. When she became pregnant in 1944 she was discharged from the WAAF. In 1989 Lilian’s memoir, Together – Lilian Bader: Wartime Memoirs of a WAAF 1939-1944, was published by the Imperial War Museum. By the end of the 20th century, three generations of her family had served in the British Armed Forces.
When did she come to Bournemouth?
After the war, Lilian studied for a degree at London University and went on to become a teacher in Bournemouth. They had two sons, Adrian and Geoffrey Bader. The family settled in Bournemouth in the late 1940s. Adrian taught carpentry and joinery at Poole Technical College in the 1970s and Geoffrey flew helicopters in the Royal Navy and later became a pilot. Lilian Bader died in Bournemouth on 13 March 2015, aged 97. She is celebrated as the first black woman to join the RAF.
Famous quote
“Father served in the First World War, his three children served in the Second World War. I married a coloured man who was in the Second World War, as was his brother who was decorated for bravery in Burma. Their father also served in the First World War. Our son was a helicopter pilot, he served in Northern Ireland. So all in all, I think we’ve given back more to this country than we’ve received.”
Why do we remember Lilian Bader as a trailblazer?
Johnson, Johnsons & Richardsons
Johnson’s anti-slavery jubilee invite
First page of 28 years a Slave
Johnson the author
Thomas Lewis Johnson
Who was Thomas Lewis Johnson?
He was a writer, missionary and anti-slavery campaigner.
Where was he born?
He was born into slavery to a family called Brent in the US State of Virginia on 7 August 1836. Johnson longed to escape as the Brents were cruel.
What did he do?
When slavery was abolished at the end of the American Civil War in 1865 he became a free man and in 1876 he studied to become a Baptist minister in England. He wanted to become a missionary and work in Africa. He and his wife travelled to Cameroon in West Africa in 1878 with fellow missionaries, the Richardsons. Both Johnson and his wife became ill and Johnson’s wife died in 1879. Johnson returned to the US and travelled widely as a preacher. As he travelled he wrote his autobiography, ‘Twenty Eight Years A Slave: The Story of My Life on Three Continents.’ Eventually, he returned to England and settled in Bournemouth in 1893. He travelled the country speaking about his life. He became a British Citizen in 1900 and his book was published in Bournemouth in 1909. He lived in a house called ‘Liberia’ at 66 Paisley Road in Boscombe, Bournemouth. He died on 11 March 1921 and was buried in Boscombe East cemetery.
Did he have a famous saying?
“Shake hands – the black won’t come off”
What did he say about Bournemouth?
“We came to Bournemouth early in November 1893. We were received with great kindness, and every attention was shown us. I was very weak and had to be taken out in a bath chair. I was surprised to be saluted by so many who inquired after my health, and who wanted to know where I had been.”
“In Bournemouth here again I can look back and see God’s hand with me. Here at Bournemouth, I had a real good rest... I cannot remember having such a perfect rest of body and mind... Among all the places which we had visited we found that the climate of Bournemouth was the most genial, and to add to all this, a very genial letter reached us from warm-hearted Christian friends in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and America.”
Why do we know so much about him?
He wrote his own autobiography. That was one of the only ways black and brown people could have their own voices heard.
Do you think Thomas Lewis Johnson had a hard life?
Further resources
Belle Davis
1919 Belle Davis
Belle Davis
1920 Boscombe Hippodrome ticket
Belle Davis
Who was Belle Davis?
She was a singer, dancer and entertainer
Where was she born?
Some say she was born on 28 April 1874 in Chicago, US, but some sources say she was a ‘native of New Orleans.’ She started her career as a dancer and performed in the chorus line. As an African American, she was very light-skinned. She appeared in a group called the ‘Octoroons’', which was a term given to people who had one-eighth African ancestry. On 5 June 1901 she left the US and sailed to England where music hall theatre was very popular. She never returned to the US.
What did she do?
Belle Davis was many things – a dance artist, a recording artist, soprano singer, entertainer, choreographer and director. In 1902 she recorded the song ‘The Honeysuckle and the Bee’ for Gramophone Records in London. She travelled extensively throughout England, Scotland, Ireland and Europe.
Hundreds of African American artists toured Europe at this time and came to work in Edwardian Britain’s immensely popular entertainment industry. Black performers were very popular but white performers also mimicked black artists including minstrel shows.
When did she come to Dorset?
Belle Davis came to Dorset in 1917. She toured with her show, ‘Belle Davis and her Piccaninnies’. They performed at Boscombe Hippodrome, Bournemouth, and Royal Jubilee Hall, Weymouth, between 6-12 August 1917. Her ‘Piccaninnies’ were young African American boys, often orphans, whom Belle Davis choreographed and looked after. Many went on to become dance and song artists in their own right, such as Sonny Jones who went on to perform with Louis Douglas.
She also appeared at several East End theatres and music halls including the Hackney Empire. Less is known of Belle after the First World War. It is thought she may have died in Paris in 1929.
What does Belle’s experience tell us about attitudes towards people of ‘colour’ in the early 1900s?
Further resources
Robert Wedderburn
The Horrors of Slavery by Wedderburn
Wedderburn’s trial
Robert Wedderburn
Who was Robert Wedderburn?
He was a sailor, abolitionist and writer.
Where was he born?
He was born in Jamaica in 1762. He was born free because his father, James Wedderburn, was a Scottish slave-owner who had a sugar plantation in Jamaica. His mother, Rosanna, was enslaved on Wedderburn’s Estate. When she was pregnant James Wedderburn sold her to Lady Douglas, stipulating that her child would be free. As a youngster, Robert often saw his mother whipped.
What did he do?
As soon as Robert was old enough he left the Douglas plantation, became a sailor and travelled to England in 1778. He campaigned against slavery and joined the Spencean Philanthropist Society in 1812. The government thought they were revolutionaries who believed in ending slavery in the Caribbean by revolution rather than reform. Many of their leaders were arrested and charged with high treason. Wedderburn also gave sermons in his own Unitarian Chapel, in Soho, London, on theology, morality, natural philosophy and politics, calling himself a “self-taught West Indian”. Wedderburn was eventually arrested and charged with ‘blasphemous libel’ in 1819. He believed in freedom of speech and in court he told the jury, “Where, after all, is my crime? It consists merely in having spoken in the same plain and homely language which Christ and his disciples uniformly used. There seems to be a conspiracy against the poor, to keep them in ignorance and superstition…”
He spent 2 years in Dorchester prison. In 1824 he wrote and published ‘The Horrors of Slavery’. He continued to campaign for freedom of speech all his life. It is not known exactly when he died but it is thought to have been around 1835, after another 2 years spent in Giltspur Street Prison, London.
Robert Wedderburn had been called a ‘Great Black Briton.’ Why?
Further resources
https://www.100greatblackbritons.com/bios/robert_wedderman.html
1944 We Were Here: African American GIs in Dorset
We are now entering the period of living history where we are talking to people who are still alive. Mainly they are telling us their life stories, stories that have often never been heard before. Joyce Marsh, John Stockley, Carole Travers and Elizabeth Nash, Paul’s wife, were all interviewed as part of our ‘1944 We Were Here: African American GIs in Dorset’ project, and a combination of their stories inspired the play which toured local schools called ‘GI Joe in Dorset.’
In 1944 it is estimated that around 80,000 American soldiers lived in Dorset whilst practising for the D Day landings. Around 10% of them were African American. They still fought in segregated units so coming to Dorset and being allowed to mix with the locals brought a sense of freedom many had not experienced before. We gathered stories from local people who had witnessed their coming, or whose fathers, or fathers-in-law were African American GIs.
Their stories are not finished, so the interviews of 2012 are only a snapshot of them at one moment in time.
Think about the lives of the men, women and children in these stories and how being black, brown or mixed heritage affected their lives.
Think about the lives of the local men, women and children meeting the African American GIs for the first time and what they must have felt and the decisions they must have made.
This is such a unique time in shaping the history of Dorset and Britain.
Joyce Marsh in American clothes
Joyce Marsh today
Joyce Marsh
Joyce was born in 1935 and lived in Cerne Abbas from the age of two. She was eight when the Americans arrived at the beginning of the summer holidays in 1943.
“We were all in the street when lorries began to come through… all these lovely cheerful young men hanging off their lorries. As the convoy passed, people emerged from their houses and joined in the waving and cheering. I shall never forget the sight of all those smiling black faces and the sweets, chewing gum, chocolate and fruit which was thrown from the lorries. I think they were as pleased to see a welcome from the villagers as we were to see them coming in.”
Joyce’s most vivid recollection is of the bananas,
”I can almost recapture the smell and taste of those wonderful fruits even now, well over sixty years on. It seems to me that I have never since tasted such bananas.”
The experience was particularly special for Joyce as, due to her mixed parentage, she was naturally the favourite, although this wasn’t something she realised at the time.
“I was a constant reminder of those little ones left so far away in their homeland, so I was the favourite...”
Joyce and the other children were very disappointed when the men left. On the last day, when they were back at school, a lorry arrived with several of their new friends who had brought them all presents to say goodbye.
“On the day they were moving out we were called to the playground and outside in the road were a number of soldiers, bearing gifts for us all… we went home that day loaded with presents... some of us in tears to think that we wouldn’t see them again. They were saying ‘we’ve got to move on.’ But we never did see them again… Even the villagers were sorry to see them go. They had given us such a marvellous time and showed us such respect and kindness. Even to we young souls, it was very sobering to hear that many of these young men had lost their lives soon after leaving us, especially as they were almost all still in their teenage years.”
Carole Travers and a friend
1944 GIs on Poole Quay
Carole Travers
Carole was born in Poole hospital on 19 April 1945. Her father was an African American GI based at Poole Quay. Her mother, Eleanor, was already married when she met him.
“I only knew my biological father as Burt... Everyone said he was called Burt. I was told that he was with the Navy and that he used to wear a white peaked cap. They reckon he was a petty officer but would have been known as a steward because he was black.”
Carole’s stepdad, Alec, agreed to bring her up and give her his name, Reid. Having heard stories about how some GI babies were put into homes, Carole always appreciated the fact that her father took her on as his own daughter and feels very lucky.
“I’ve got to respect the fact that he brought me up and it couldn’t have been easy for him because I was dark. I didn’t realise at first but then people knew he wasn’t my dad because he had ginger hair and he was Scots.”
Carole says that she didn’t have too bad a childhood, but people were cruel sometimes. She didn’t have a lot of confidence when she was younger.
“I thought nobody would ever want to know me, nobody would ever want to marry me. It didn’t help when I had a boyfriend and we were going to get engaged, and then the next thing I know is that he’s finishing with me and, from what I can gather, he’d told his mum and she didn’t like the fact that I was dark, and something about kids she’d said, that sort of knocked me back again.”
Carole only knows about her mother’s side of the family.
“I haven’t got a clue about my Dad. I don’t know his name even, just Burt... It’s been twenty years next year that I’ve been trying to find him and it always comes to a dead end all the time... I don’t even know his age. I just know what Mum told me and that he came from Carolina.”
Every time she goes down to Poole quay she thinks, “Oh, my Dad was down here”, but at the same time it feels unreal and almost as though he had never been there. To find out something about him is “The one thing I want before I leave this planet.”
John Stockley
Weymouth and Portland had a key role to play during and up to the D-Day landings as thousands of troops left from the harbours.
A plaque in Portland states: ‘1944 – 1945. The major part of the American assault force which landed on the shores of France on 6 June 1944, was launched from the Weymouth and Portland harbours. From 6 June 1944 to 7 May 1945 517,816 troops and 144,093 vehicles embarked from these harbours. Many of these troops left from Weymouth Pier.”
On Remembrance Sunday, November 2009, for the first time, a wreath was laid to remember the African American soldiers who left Weymouth for the D-Day invasion on the 6th June 1944. John Stockley, whose father was an African American GI, laid the wreath. He believes this was one of the first acknowledgements of black soldiers not just from Weymouth but from this country.
John was born in Weymouth on May 7, 1945: ‘effectively the last day of the war’.
“My mother was already married... They met around 1944 when he was billeted in Lennox Street and my mother ran it as a guest house but it was requisitioned as quarters for the army. All I know about my father is what people outside of my own family have told me. I believe he was quite tall, I’m tall, 6’ 3.” Apparently he was a very smart and striking man, and he stood out.”
John’s family have refused to tell him anything about his father or the circumstances which led to his birth.
“I don’t blame my mum, imagine war-time. Think what went on... Meeting a dynamic black guy, jitterbugging, dancing... She was married, her husband was away in France... I expect a lot had dalliances and got away with it. One of my aunts said she was just unlucky.”
John went to school with Bob, another black GI’s child, and the two of them met Paul Nash playing football with other schools – John noticed ‘this black kid’ one day who became ‘like his brother in later years.’ In total John says there were 7 boys in Weymouth who were the children of African American GIs – John, Richie, Raymond, Bob, Paul, Graham and Gerald, all of whom were friends. Sadly, most of them have now died. John says none of them or their families, apart from Paul Nash’s family, will talk about it.
John remembers trying to change himself and become white by drinking milk of magnesia and eating chalk. At school kids could be ‘very nice or very nasty’ and there was racial abuse at times.
”One vivid memory of this was on a cold snowy day, playing football in the schoolyard… I collided with another guy. I was about 8 and he got up and he called me a dirty n****r, this was a guy that lived 150 metres from me, so my reaction was to punch him on the nose. I remember the blood on the snow… I was marched up to the headmaster’s office. My mother was summoned to the school and I remember standing next to her in front of him, and him saying to her “You have to remember Mrs Stockley, you cannot educate these people.”
In terms of how his heritage has affected him, John says he would have loved to have known his father. He would be happy if he could just see a photograph or meet a family member who could describe his father to him.
A young Paul Nash on Weymouth Esplanade
John William Hill, Paul’s Father
Trixie Nash, Paul's mother
Paul and Elizabeth Nash
Paul Nash
John Stockley knew Paul Nash. Unfortunately Paul Nash died in 2008 but we were lucky enough to talk to his wife, Elizabeth Nash, and daughter, Anna Dando.
In 1945 Trixie Nash gave birth to her son Paul, who was a result of her wartime romance with a black US sailor, John William Hill, who was stationed in Portland. Paul, who lived in Weymouth all his life, never asked his mother about his father. Although Trixie never talked about his real father, at times Paul did wonder.
“It was like a jigsaw puzzle that’s supposed to have 500 pieces and there’s only 499. You want to find that missing piece.’”
She was already married, and her husband (also called John) had been away fighting at the time. He stayed with her. Trixie was of mixed heritage herself – her dad was a local road-sweeper who came to Weymouth in 1915. This is why Paul’s colour was never questioned.
When he was about 13, his mother told him that his real father was in actual fact a black American GI who was stationed in Portland on a ship during the war.
“She talked about the fact that she used to correspond with John William during the war but because he was stationed on a ship she used to write to his sister. It carried on for a while and then it petered out. After the war apparently, they came over to England to try and persuade her to go back, and because of how the blacks were treated in America her father persuaded her not to go.”
Paul was lucky enough to have met his father. The family managed to trace him but he was elderly and most probably suffering from Alzheimer’s. They met for the first time several years later at St John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway in New York, where Paul’s father was a patient.
Paul told Elizabeth: “I looked at him and he looked at me I saw that I favoured him. I hugged him and he hugged me back. I’m happy I met him.”
Elizabeth said: ‘But when you jogged his memory he’d remember Trixie, Paul's mother’. “Oh, that was the love of my life” he used to say, so it was quite emotional for my husband especially.”
Elizabeth said Paul rarely experienced racism, although there is one occasion she can remember. On busy summer night in Weymouth they were queuing for a taxi. A man whom Elizabeth thought was Welsh, was behind them in the queue and said to Paul, “You want to go back where you came from.“ Paul replied “Well, you’re Welsh, you want to go back to Wales. I live here, I was born here.”