Braunston Boaters strike 1923

[Ray T]

I was chatting to one of the volunteers in the Stop House a couple of days ago and she brought this photo to my attention:

 

 

From here: http://www.steamershistorical.co.uk/steamers_braunston_strike_01.htm

 

The little lad highlighted appears to be of Afro Carribean descent. She asked me if I knew any of his history, I don't , anybody out there who does?

 

 

 

 

[RLWP]

I don't think he is. He has fairly european features. There are other equally grubby urchins in that picture, like the girl seven kids towards the centre from him

 

Richard

[alan_fincher]

The little lad highlighted appears to be of Afro Carribean descent.

 

No, can't see that t all, I'm afraid............

[Ray T]

A slightly larger picture:

 

[Captain Pegg]

I agree with RLWP and Alan. A grubby little boat urchin. Not exactly a rare breed at the time.

 

JP

[Ray T]

Oh well, I said I would ask.

[RLWP]

You might just as well pick out the girl in the front row

 

Richard

[Laurence Hogg]

In my collection is a photo of a black man working on a FMC steamer. The picture was sent to Benjamin Zephaniah (Former poet laureate based in Birmingham) who circulated it through many Afro Caribbean communities round the UK who all agreed it was Definatly not a white person. We have no idea who he was but he may have been learning to use the engine before one was sent abroad to his country, it seems a plausible explanation.

 

[RLWP]

Sounds like the right thing to do with this photo

 

Richard

[alan_fincher]

The bigger mystery about these boater's strike photos, (and there are lots more than these), is why various men in (different) Trilby's all get identified in them as "Mr Sam Brookes", but it is plain for anybody with half decent eyesight to see that they are clearly not all the same man.

 

Even in the small selection on this page, fairly clearly everybody identified as "Mr Sam Brookes" can not be!

[zenataomm]

Never mind racial origins ...... what about that giant on the back row, where the dickens is he from?

[Ray T]

Never mind racial origins ...... what about that giant on the back row, where the dickens is he from?

 

Brobdingnag ?

 

Jonathan Swift rather than Dickens I think.

[mrsmelly]

Just looked at this post and asked my mum who is sat here with me about this. She was born in Hull and my Dad in Goole. My mum had a best friend who was black called Catherine Lewis who she used to walk to school with in the late 1920s Catherines Father worked on boats in Hull docks. My Dad started as a boy at 14 in 1934 on one of his uncles barges out of Goole running to Hull and down the Trent to Nottingham he had a good friend who worked on the boats with him who was also black. I suppose then that there will have been blacks on the narrow system? Mum just said she was told as a kid to remember that " Blacks " were not as good as she was and she said to me how ridiculous that was. My mums mum apparently refered to Catherines hair as " Nigger frizz "

How times change and how lucky am I to be sat here with my 96 year old mum and to be able to ask her with her amazing memory questions like this. She is real living history.

I am editting this to add that just spoken to mum again who informs me she used to love speaking of " The olden days " with her grandma whom she loved dearly and got on well with. My mums grandma was born in 1858 so I am talking directly with a living breathing mum who is a direct living link to someone who was born 43 years before the death of queen Victoria.

Edited January 16, 2017 by mrsmelly

[Derek R.]

That is a lovely connection - treasure it.

[bookworm]

Not strictly relevant but one you may not have seen. Taken at time of General Strike 1926 at Brentford. Lilly Pearsall gave it to me many years ago and said the gent with bowler was Mr Knight 'the mission man'. Have since checked and he was indeed in charge of Boatmans Mission at the time.