The house in Castletown Road near Queen's Club. Picture: Google Streetview
September 30, 2024
The special place in black history of a house on a back street in West Kensington is to be commemorated.
The terrace property at 57 Castletown Road close to the Queen’s Club is to be the site of what is being described as the biggest diversity plaque tribute in UK history. It has a unique claim to fame as being the home of a number of prominent figures including a nation’s first president, and leading civil rights and political figures
On Tuesday 1 October at 11am guests at the unveiling will include Muhammad Ali Jr, son of the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, and Matthew Marshall, chair of the Malcolm X Foundation.
The remarkable house with its olive-green front door and wrought-iron balconies, was variously home to Kenya’s first president, Jamaica’s most outspoken political activist, and leading civil rights figures, is to be honoured with commemorative plaques as part of Black History Month.
Between 1928 and 1964, residents of the house included Jomo Kenyatta, the African statesman and nationalist who went on to become the first prime minister, then president, of independent Kenya.
When Kenyatta, then in his mid-30s, arrived in London in March 1929, he had nowhere to stay. He was offered space in the house by Nigerian civil rights lawyer and leader of the West African Organisation Ladipo Solanke, who is also to be commemorated.
Solanke had been supported in his campaigning for Nigerian rights by Amy Ashwood Garvey, the Jamaican feminist activist who co-founded the influential newspaper Negro World with her husband Marcus Garvey, the Black nationalist.
From March 1928 to October 1929 the house, which is spread across five storeys, was home to Amy and Marcus, regarded by many as the most significant human rights married couple of the 20th century.
Then, 35 years later, the house became a temporary home for Malcolm X, the African American revolutionary who campaigned for civil rights and was the Nation of Islam’s vocal advocate. He stayed in the house a year before his assassination in New York in 1965, weeks before his 40th birthday.
“It is a great honour for a property to be awarded a blue heritage plaque,” said Dr Jak Beula of the Nubian Jak Community Trust, the largest deliverer of diverse plaques in the world.
“It is rare for a residential property to be the site of two plaques, and almost unprecedented to be connected with three. So to have an address associated with five global figures is practically bonkers!”
Cllr Sharon Holder, H&F Cabinet Member for Public Realm, said it was a ‘great example’ of partnership between H&F and the Trust, and a fantastic way to launch Black History Month locally. She added, This is part of the council's wider programme to diversify our public realm by visibly celebrating the borough`s Black heritage and history in a proactive way.”
“It’s wonderful to work with the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in opening up Black History Month 2024 with such a historic tribute,” added Dr Beula. “The legacy will be visitors from all over the world coming to see this house.”
There are fewer than 2,500 properties in the capital with blue plaques, with the Heritage Foundation and Nubian Jak Community Trust the only official plaque schemes publicly endorsed by English Heritage.
The latest unveiling helps redress a historic imbalance. Since the trust began work it has been able to boost the proportion of diverse plaques in the capital from 1.6 per cent to 7 per cent.
Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |