Bringing overlooked stories to life: Animated Collage

Queen Charlotte 

James Cumberlidge was a member of the Royal Court for over 20 years. His interactions with Queen Charlotte would have been frequent. The debate continues as to her potential African heritage based mainly upon her appearance in some portraits. 

Francis Barber 

Francis Barber entered Dr Samuel Johnson's household aged 10, and remained as his companion, assistant and carer for 20 years. James Cumberlidge probably knew Johnson and Barber through their mutual friend David Garrick. 

Dido Belle 

Dido Belle, the German artist Zoffany, and the royal trumpeter James Cumberlidge are all connected through an intricate network of mutual friends and shared spaces. 

Mohammed Bin Hadou 

The Moroccan Ambassador arrived in England in 1682 and stayed for over a year. He was "the fashion of the season…a handsome person, well featured and of a wise look, subtle and extremely civil" and struck a magnificent figure riding through Hyde Park with his entourage, captured in a portrait by Kneller in the Upper Tribune at Chiswick House. 

Detail of Young man in ‘Captain Lord George Graham in his Cabin’ by Hogarth c1745 

The men and women of colour in William Hogarth's paintings and engravings give a sense of Black visibility in 18th-century London. Another friend of Garrick, Hogarth moved next door to the Chiswick House estate whilst James Cumberlidge was still in his late teens - it seems highly probable that they interacted at some level. 

Head of a Young Black Boy & Girl (1)

These realistic portraits suggest a number of children of colour in the locality in the early 17th century....

Head of a Young Black Boy & Girl (2)

The artist, Wenceslaus Hollar, lived in London with the Earl of Arundel, who held several government roles involved in the slave trade in the early 1600s. The Roman statues at Chiswick House were once part of the Earl’s collection.

Caesar Shaw 

Caesar Shaw was a servant in the Spencer household in the 1700s. Employed by the father and grandfather of Georgiana Cavendish (the Duchess of Devonshire). He lived on the Althorpe estate in Nottinghamshire and was baptised in Northampton. 

Joseph Casar 

This sketch by William Kent c1730 shows a young man of colour, probably Joseph Casar, moving orange trees around the gardens at Chiswick. We still do not know exactly where Joseph went when he left Chiswick, but Lady Burlington did suggest sending him to Londesborough Hall, Yorkshire in a letter to her husband written in 1729. 

Alessandro de’ Medici 

The very first Duke of Florence, was of mixed Italian and African heritage. He is the first known African ruler of a European court. The Medici family were patrons to artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo & Raphael. 

You can see a copy of the ‘Medici Vase’ here in the Italian Gardens. 

Ottobah Cugoano 

Born in modern-day Ghana and sold into slavery aged 13, Ottobah was taken to Grenada, West Indies. Brought to England by a merchant, Cugoano educated and freed himself. He wrote his autobiography in 1787 and co-founded the Black abolitionist group - Sons of Africa - the same year. 

Ignatius Sancho

Sancho worked for Lady Mary Churchill, Duchess of Montagu, and received a pension in her will. He was a property-owner, which meant he could vote. A right he exercised in 1774 and 1780, becoming the second known British African to have done so, after John London. Georgiana Cavendish mentioned him, shortly after his death, in a letter to her mother that suggested Sancho was perceived as a man of impeccable moral character by London Society.