Hidden stories from Chiswick House: Joseph Casar and a brief history of the horse

Launched in 2021, Black Chiswick through History is an ongoing community research project, working in collaboration with local community groups, young people, historians and artists. Through it, we look more deeply at the history of Chiswick House & Gardens, drawing out stories that connect us to Black history, on both a local and a national/global level.

For 2024, the project has celebrated the lives of some of the men, women and children of African heritage associated with Chiswick House and estate in the 18th century, focusing on the three individuals best represented in our collection and archives – Joseph Casar, Lady Burlington’s footman & messenger – James (or Jim) Cumberlidge, who rose from pageboy to publisher – and Jean Baptiste Gilbert, the infamous Duchess Georgiana’s hairdresser.

Here, historian Nadege Forde-Vidal, who has been working on the BCtH programme since its inception, delves into the story of Joseph Casar.

Joseph Casar was Lady Burlington’s footman for several years during the late 1720’s. But apart from a few mentions in scattered letters and accounts, we know virtually nothing about where he came from, what he was like or what happened to him.

As footman, Joseph saw to most of Lady Burlington’s daily needs and would accompany her wherever she went. He rode behind her carriage on horseback as she travelled with the Queen’s royal court (Caroline) from one royal residence to the next and he took on the trusted role of personally delivering her Ladyship’s private correspondence.

Image: A mention of Joseph Casar appeared in the St Nicholas Parish record, 27th July 1725

This last task required an experienced, fast rider capable of handling the dangers that lurked in the English countryside. Joseph also had to find his way to and from destinations across the country and in all weather. Long journeys meant he had to find accommodation and stables, and at all times needed to be ready and able to take care of his horse. But these journeys, clearly not without risk, would also have afforded Joseph some relief from his duties as a footman, each trip providing another chance to enjoy some personal freedom – to be his own boss. So where might this familiarity with horses, and exceptional talent as a rider and navigator have come from?

Image: Van Dyck, Duc D’Arenberg, before 1641.

 

Image: Kehinde Wiley, Duc D’Arenberg, 2011.

Horses may well be a familiar feature of the English countryside, but many might be surprised to learn that for thousands of years they have also played a significant role in the cultures and communities of most of the African continent. The earliest evidence for the presence of the horse in Africa is a skeleton found in an Egyptian fort c.1675 BCE but images of horses and riders survive from much earlier in the form of rock art in Morocco, Egypt and Sudan and are common across Chad and Mauritania. Horses were employed on a substantial scale in pre-colonial Africa, mostly in warfare but also as a token of great success, wealth and high social and political status.

In the mid-eleventh century Soninke kingdom of ancient Ghana, ten horses dressed in golden cloth flanked the King whenever he gave an audience. Several centuries later the same palace housed no less than 1,000 horses that slept upon mats, were tethered with silk cords and had three grooms each, one to provide food, one to supply water, and the other to keep the stable clean.

Image: Terracotta Horseman figure from Mali (13th-15th century).

The kings of the Mali Empire commanded a force of no less than 10,000 cavalry, and imported horses from the Berber in northern Africa. These Berber horse traders and their cavalry had been active across the Sahara since well before Roman times. Berber groups in the region remain culturally and economically connected to horses to this day.

                   Image: Rousseau (1875-1933) Berber Horsemen.

Obas (kings) and Chiefs on horses are also frequently portrayed on brass sculptures and plaques from the City of Benin, now Nigeria, many of which were taken by the British in 1897. The etching below dates to 1668 and shows the Oba on horseback with his cavalry on the right.

Image: Benin City by Olfert Dapper, 1668

The Horsemen of Oyo were legendary warriors who served the Oyo Empire of West Africa. Known for their equestrian skills and bravery in battle. They were also respected for their intelligence and wisdom, making them valuable assets to the Oyo royalty. Their legacy continues to inspire pride and respect among the Yoruba people. (The Horse in West African History; Robin Law).

The care of valuable horses demanded specialist skills in Africa as in Europe, as the excessive number of attendants in Ghana testifies. The horses selected for riding in West Africa were almost invariably stallions and were broken for riding at a very early age. Colts were ridden by children only a year old without a saddle.

Horses here invariably make part of the family… The children are often seen playing between the legs of the animal with which it seems much pleased, often nibbling at their heads with its lips, or licking their faces, as a spaniel would.-

British traveller, John Duncan, writing about the area to the north of Dahomey in the 1840s

Given the long standing history of horses across the African continent, it seems more than likely that Joseph’s riding skills and knowledge of horses were a legacy, in whole or in part, of his African childhood and heritage.

A horse is like a man, you send it out to bring a tired man home, you give it water to drink, you walk miles to find it grass to eat, it carries you to hunt and to war, when you die, and they lead it towards your grave, its spirit may fly out of its body in its anxiety to find you.

(Berom man, central Nigeria: The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns by T. Shaw et. al pg 96)

  • Find out more about the Black Chiswick through History programme here
  • Explore a digital timeline, created by Year 10 students at Chiswick School, showing how the lives of Jospeh Casar, James Cumberlidge and Jean-Baptiste Gilbert intersected with local, national and global events of their time.