I'm delighted to report that John Blanke, the African trumpeter at the Tudor court, has now taken his rightful place in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography! He is one of 119 new entries this September. 

As ODNB editor Henry Summerson writes on the OUP blog, Blanke's "fanfares enlivened the early Tudor court and [his] portrait image is the only identifiable likeness of a black person in sixteenth-century British art." 

When I wrote letters to nine historical figures for the Influential Black Londoners exhibition at Sutton House, Hackney for the National Trust last year, Blanke was the only one who didn't have an entry. Now that omission has been rectified. I was delighted to be able to write about this fascinating individual for a reference work that I find so useful in my research. I'm writing about him at greater length in my book, Black Tudors (forthcoming 2016), and he will feature in the Sutton House exhibition again this year, which launches with a Free Family Day this Sunday, and in the talk I'm giving with Michael Ohajuru on the Image and Reality of Black Africans in Renaissance England at Battersea Library at 6.30pm on Tuesday 14th October. 

To read the entry, click here: Blanke, John (fl.1507-1512), royal trumpeter. 

October is Black History Month, and my diary is getting full! I'm giving a range of talks at schools, universities, libraries, history societies, and a festival, well into November. Please have a look at the events listed below, and put one in your diary to learn more about Africans in Tudor, Stuart & Georgian Britain. 

I'll be talking about John Blanke, Henry VIII's African trumpeter, and the hundreds of other Africans present in Tudor and Stuart Britain; about the real history behind the film Belle, and about Africans in Georgian London, like Cesar Picton, born in Senegal in 1761, who went on to become a successful coal merchant. And much more!

I'm also co-organising a workshop at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies to get the conversation going on "What's Happening in Black British History?" and putting together a panel on "Africans in Tudor Britain" as part of the "Putting the Black in the Union Jack? Black British History in Education" event.  These two one-day events require tickets, so do book in advance!

I've listed the basic details below- for more information on the talks, please visit my talks page. 

Dates for the Diary:

Tuesday 7th October, 6pm, "Based on a True Story? The History behind the film Belle", North Kensington Library, 108 Ladbroke Grove, London W11 1PZ.

Wednesday 8th October, 6pm, "Africans in Tudor and Stuart Britain"Shepherd's Bush Library, 6 Wood Lane, London W12 7BF.

Saturday 11th October, 4.15pm, "Polish Witches and Black Tudors - tales from the 1500’s" with Wanda Wyporska, Archway with Words Festival, Methodist Church, Archway, Archway Close, London N19 3TD. 

Monday 13th October, 7.30pm, "Africans in Tudor and Stuart Britain", Historical Association, Gloucestershire Branch, Friends Meeting House, Greyfriars, Gloucester GL1 1TS.

Tuesday 14th October, 6.30pm, "The Image and Reality of Africans in Renaissance England", with Michael Ohajuru, Battersea Library, 265 Lavender Hill, London SW11 1JB.

Wednesday 15th October, 6pm, "Africans in Tudor & Stuart Port Towns",Queen Anne 180 - Greenwich Campus, University of Greenwich, 
 London SE10 9HX.

Wednesday 29th October, 6.30pm, "Africans in Tudor & Stuart London", Paddington Library, 45 Porchester Rd, London,  W2 5DU. 

Thursday 30th October, 11-6.30pm, "What's Happening in Black British History? A Conversation" Institute of Commonwealth Studies workshop, The Senate Room, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. 

Tuesday 4th November, 2pm, "Africans in Early Modern London",Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London EC2V 7HH.

Wednesday 5th November, 5pm, "Africans in Tudor England", with Onyeka Nubia, Arts 2.03, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ.

Saturday 8th November, 3.30pm, Putting the Black in the Union Jack? Black British History in Education: "Africans in Tudor Britain" panel, Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon St, London WC1H 0AH.

Tuesday 11th November, 6pm, "Africans in Georgian London", John Galsworthy Building, Room 3002, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2EE.

Wednesday 25th February 2015, 7.15pm, "Africans in Tudor and Stuart Britain", Historical Association, Cardiff Branch, Cardiff University Centre for Lifelong Learning, Senghennydd Road, Cardiff, CF24 4AG.

The confirmed programme of speakers for the workshop I'm co-organising in October with Michael Ohajuru has gone online! I've pasted it below for your ease of perusal.
We were really pleased to get such a range and high quality of submissions, and I'm really looking forward to hearing all the papers, and the lively discussion I imagine they will generate.

Have a look, and register for your place before the end of September to get the early-bird discounts. You can purchase tickets via the online store or download, complete & return this Registration form. Read more about the event on the Institute of Commonwealth Studies events page.
 
Hope to see you there!

Workshop: What's Happening in Black British History? A Conversation

Institute of Commonwealth Studies, The Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, London

Thursday 30 October 2014

10.30-11.00 Registration: tea & coffee

11.00-11.30 Keynote address

11.30-1.00 Session One: New Directions in Black British History

Chair: Clive Webb (University of Sussex)

Christian Hogsbjerg (Independent Scholar) ‘The Two Souls of Black British History: Homage to Peter Fryer'

 Renée Mussai (Autograph ABP) 'Archival Lacunae: The Black Chronicles / The Missing Chapter'

Adrian Stone (Independent Researcher) ‘My Genealogical Journey: using Genealogy, Family History and DNA to tell Black British History’

1.00-2.00 Lunch

2.00-3.30 Session Two: People of African Descent in the Archives

Chair: Clive Davis (Freelance Journalist)

Hannah Ishmael (Black Cultural Archives) ‘Ephemera and Black History’

Vanley Burke (Independent Archivist and Photographer) and Lisa Palmer (Newman University, Birmingham), ‘Guerrilla Archiving and the Black Presence in Birmingham’ 

Kathleen Chater (Independent Scholar) ‘Researching Black British History before the Windrush: sources and challenges’

3.30-5.00 Session Three: Spreading the Word: New Developments in the Communication of Black British History

Chair: Yvonne Thomas (Roehampton University)

David Olusoga (BBC) ‘Television, Radio and the peculiar challenges of Black History’ 

Abdul Mohamud (Hampstead School) and Robin Whitburn (Institute of Education) ‘Doing Justice to the teaching of Black British History in the Classroom’

Milton Brown (Kirklees African Descent Community (KADC) Media Productions/Kirklees Local TV) and Paul Ward (University of Huddersfield) ‘The Co-production of Black British History’

5.00-5.30 Tea/coffee

5.30-6.30 Round Table Discussion and Conclusions (in the Senate Room)

Chair: Michael Ohajuru

Panel: Caroline Bressey, Kathleen Chater, Sean Creighton, Miranda Kaufmann, S.I. Martin, Tony
Warner.

6.30-7.30 Reception

Bright and early yesterday morning I headed to the Colourful Radio studio, which is tucked away inside the Oval Cricket Ground, to have a chat with Lester Holloway. He'd got in touch after reading my last blog, on Elizabeth I and the 'Blackamoors': the Deportation that never was, and wanted to hear more about Africans in Tudor England. You can listen to our conversation below. Do add a comment and join in with the debate!