Name: Recovering Black British History at West Norwood Cemetery
Start: 2025-10-12T14:30:00+01:00
End: 2025-10-12T16:00:00+01:00
Location: West Norwood Cemetery

Recovering Black British History at West Norwood Cemetery

A Black History Month walking tour led by a guide from the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery.
About this Event

The Friends of West Norwood Cemetery is a charity dedicated to the care and preservation of this extraordinary cemetery.

Recovering Black British History at West Norwood Cemetery

Join me in on this walking tour of West Norwood Cemetery to delve into aspects of Black British History stretching far beyond the arrival of Empire Windrush, starting with John Johnson Hamilton (1802-1866), a wealthy Black Victorian trader in palm oil whose mother was a freed slave. We will acknowledge the ways in which commodities from the Caribbean shaped the British Empire, for example sugar (Sir Henry Tate) and cocoa (James Epps), and we will explore the history of at least one Victorian whose fortune derived from the compensation paid to plantation owners when slavery was finally abolished. But there is also much to celebrate. We will honour the lives of Alma Jean Henry, a Trinidadian opera singer who founded a charity to support the homeless and fund educational projects; Windrush pioneer Oswald Manoah Denniston, a founding member of the Association of Jamaicans and the first African-Caribbean trader to establish a stall in Brixton Market; and Joe Hunte who dedicated his life to improving relations between the police and immigrant communities.

Dr Jane Jordan

We will meet at the arched (main) entrance for a prompt 2:30pm start. If you have any mobility concerns, please get in touch with me and I can advise. Unfortunately, dogs (even on leads) are not allowed in the cemetery.

West Norwood Cemetery (SE27 9JU) is located next to St Luke's Church and West Norwood Library. Buses: 2, 68, 196, 315, 322, 432 and 468 (several of these routes go via Brixton Tube Station: 2, 196, 322, 432) or West Norwood Station (trains to and from London Bridge/Victoria). Limited off-street parking is available.

This tour is being offered on behalf of The Friends of West Norwood Cemetery. Your donation will help us to continue to preserve this very special space. Please note that due to a quirk of the system each ticket has to be booked separately - something to bear in mind if you are coming as a couple or a member of a group.