When I went to visit the exhibition at the Archaeology Museum I moved through the connecting corridor from the museum to the Djanogly Gallery which takes you through the gift shop area. But just before that there is also an exhibition space and it was here that the Missing Chapters exhibition caught my eye. I hadn’t heard anything about it and nor could I see any information about it on the Lakeside Arts website.
This is a pop-up exhibition that has been touring all over the country reproducing photographs that were taken of people of African, Caribbean and Asian descent during the Victorian era in Britain. They range from ordinary members of the public (some unidentified) to royalty and politicians and part of their remit is to make it clear that immigration to the UK has been going on far longer than just the Windrush generation of the ’50s and ’60s. [If you want a good read on the subject I’d highly recommend Black and British by David Olusoga].
All these photographs were taken in studios, hence the Sunday best clothing, and give a snapshot into an often overlooked aspect of British history. One of the most famous women in the collection is probably Sarah Forbes Bonetta who was the ward and goddaughter of Queen Victoria. She came from West Africa, orphaned in a war and “gifted” to Queen Victoria by Captain Frederick Forbes in order to stop her being executed as an enemy of his people by King Ghezo of Dahomey.
This is Sargano Alicamousa, real name John Humphreys (Sargano seems to be a name lion tamers took on regularly though my quick research couldn’t see a given reason why). He was born in St Vincent in the Caribbean and worked as a lion and tiger trainer throughout Europe. The medals were apparently won in Sudan.
And finally this is Eleanor Xiniwe of the African Choir. The African Choir were a group of young South African singers that toured Britain between 1891 and 1893. One of their most famous performances was in front of Queen Victoria at Osborne House, her home on the Isle of Wight.
I really liked the exhibition, small as it was, but all the information here was things I researched for myself – there’s not really a lot of explanatory information about the people in the photos which is a shame as I certainly wanted to learn their stories. I’m afraid I have zero information on how long the exhibition is on for.
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