Colleagues Pay Tribute after Death of Former Councillor

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Ken Martindale was founder of Black British Heritage

Colleagues have paid tribute to Ken Martindale, a prominent former councillor and founder of the history group Black British Heritage, who has died at the age of 62.

Ken Martindale was a Labour councillor from 1986 to 1990, during which time he was chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee and a member of several other committees.

Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham, Cllr Adronie Alford, said: " I am deeply saddened by the death of Ken Martindale. Ken was a well-known member of the community and he will be greatly missed. I send my condolences to his family and friends."

Cllr Colin Aherne, Opposition Chief Whip, said: " Ken played an active part in the black community and will be missed."

Mr Martindale was best known for establishing Black British Heritage, which celebrates the lives, struggles and achievements of black British citizens, both those of the post-Windrush period and those who were already in the UK previously.

He was instrumental in seeing the restoration of the highly ornate memorial to Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton MP, abolitionist and social reformer, in Victoria Gardens, close to the House of Lords, and the grave of the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, in All Saints Churchyard Fulham.

He also played a major role in ensuring that there was a permanent memorial to the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in Fen Court, in the City of London and devised a heritage trail in Hammersmith & Fulham which passed the graves of former slaves Ellen Smith and William Craft who found their way to Cambridge Grove near King Street, Hammersmith, and the memorial to Sir Nicholas Crisp in St Paul's Church.

Ken, who had been suffering from heart disease, leaves behind his elderly mother, three sisters, and six children, some of whom still live in the borough.

 

January 14, 2011