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Archaeological finds and historical records testify that people of African origin lived in Britain as far back as the first century AD. That Queen Victoria had two African goddaughters who visited her at Buckingham Palace? That black soldiers fought with Wellington against Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815
The first mention of a black person in the royal records is 'John Blanke', who served as black trumpeter to both Henry VII and Henry VIII from 1507 and featured on the embroidered roll in the Royal College of Arms.
William Cuffay, was one of the first black trade unionists in this country and a champion of the universal suffrage cause. He was a prominent figure in London's Chartist Movement, which demanded constitutional and social reform to improve the lot of the working class.John Archer, a photographer by profession, was Britain's first British born black councillor and Mayor. He lived in Brynmaer Road in Battersea and was elected to the council there in 1906, becoming mayor in 1913. He was also president of the African Progress Union.
Samuel Coleridge Taylor is one of Britain's most renowned composers. He was born in Holborn in 1875. He excelled musically first in violin and then in composition. He taught music at Trinity College London and at the age of 22 achieved fame with his piece 'Hiawatha's Wedding Feast'.
On 12 May 2003, Baroness Valerie Amos was named as Secretary of State for International Development and became the first black woman in a parliamentary Cabinet. Baroness Amos was born in Guyana, studied at the Universities of Warwick, Birmingham and East Anglia, and was awarded an Honorary Professorship at Thames Valley University in 1995 in recognition of her work on equality and social justice.
