Can you help with a fascinating Brent local history project to uncover mixed-race family histories?

 Guest post by Philip Grant

 

One of the projects as part of the Brent Museum and Archives “Being Brent” programme is gathering information on the long-neglected subject the mixed-race families in our diverse community. Although it was once widely regarded as a taboo, what is more natural than two human beings who love each other wanting to spend their lives together and have children? The fact that they may have different skin colours, or come from different cultural or religious backgrounds, should not be a barrier to that love.

 

The “By the Cut of Their Cloth” (BTCOCT) project has been engaging with local people and carrying out archival research for several months, and has uncovered some amazing leads that it needs to follow up. That is why it is asking for help now, and you might be the person who can give it! This is what they are saying:

 

Family history researchers! We would love to hear from anyone interested in volunteering their time to help us uncover Brent's mixed race family histories.

 

We have a few fascinating leads from newspapers and archives that we’re keen to learn more about in time for our exhibition in March. If you have experience of and access to online genealogical sites and would be able to spare a few hours, we would be very grateful if you could track down any additional information on some of the accounts we’ve uncovered.

 

·      A Chinese acrobat in Edwardian Britain charged with deserting his Willesden-based Welsh wife, who he said had become ‘too stout’ to perform one of his stage acts.

·      A white waitress who met her wealthy Indian Muslim husband at the 1924 Wembley exhibition and moved to Bhopal with him after their three-month engagement.

 

One of the earliest examples they’ve found comes from a photograph in the Brent Archives collection, taken in the grounds of Neasden Stud Farm in the 1890s. This is an extract from it:

 

From census records, the man in the bowler hat is thought to be John Lambert, born around 1850 in Suffolk, with his wife Emily (originally from Edgware) standing beside him, and a girl thought to be their daughter. John was the farm bailiff, or manager of the farm. BTCOTC would love to know more about his story, and his family!

 

If you would like to learn more about the project, or you think you might be able to help, please go to this website, and scroll down to the "Volunteers" section:
https://mixedmuseum.org.uk/btcotcproject/ . Thank you.