Re-interpreting our history and collections through a diversity of voices and perspectives

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 to draw out stories of people, places and experiences that connect us to Black history, people of colour and our colonial past, both locally and globally.

This research has helped us to understand and interpret Chiswick House through a diversity of voices and perspectives. Reflecting their own diverse experiences and background, the young people involved in this ongoing project are producing a series of thoughtful responses to our history and collections and are enriching the interpretation for all our visitors.

Celebrating the lives of three men of African heritage who lived at Chiswick House

This year the Black Chiswick through History project at Chiswick House & Gardens celebrates the lives of some of the men, women and children of African heritage associated with Chiswick House and estate in the 18th century. We focus on three individuals who are currently those best represented in our collection and archives: Joseph Casar, Lady Burlington’s footman & messenger; James Cumberlidge, who rose from page boy to paymaster; and Jean Baptiste Gilbert, the infamous Duchess Georgiana’s hairdresser. Each of these men spent several years in the households of the Burlington and Devonshire families, across their many properties in England and Ireland, though not at the same time.

Joseph, James and Jean Baptiste were well educated, highly skilled, respected and trusted members of these households who had a significant impact on both the lives of the other, better represented, residents of Chiswick House and the estate. They would all have witnessed the family dramas (which were numerous) and interacted with the Movers & Shakers of the time – poets, writers, actors, musicians, aristocrats and politicians, not to mention royalty – all whilst navigating the complexities of life in 18th century Britain for men of colour.

As part of this year’s programme, participants from Chiswick School and Hogarth Youth & Community Centre worked creatively with historian Nadege Forde-Vidal, artists Ayesha Weekes and Jaixia Blue, and with London-based charity Poetic Unity, to recognise Joseph, James and Jean Baptiste as inspirational figures in the history of the House & Gardens. Together, they created timelines, artworks and poems to highlight how the lives of these three individuals relate to the history of the House & Gardens within a local, national, and global context. You can explore the digital timeline they have created here.

What has the project explored so far?

In 2022, young people from Chiswick School created a series of short videos exploring the painting of the Moroccan Ambassador, the Bust of Caracalla, the Medici Vases and the Chiswick Sphinx sculpture all found in our collection. The group from Hogarth Youth and Community Centre produced a detailed collage, making visible the people of colour present within the house, significant people of colour within our shared history, and their own personal connections to Chiswick.

In 2023, collaborations between artists and local community groups, led with the support of artist-practitioners Rachel Long and Ayesha Weekes and researcher Nadege Forde-Vidal, created a series of newly commissioned artworks, responding to the theme ‘300 years of built and natural design’. The project, The Heart of Design, illuminated how design within the historic house and gardens has been inspired by the exchange of ideas, art and traditions from across the globe.

In Partnership with