Wiltshire Black History

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The Windrush Generation

The resources linked to these pages are the result of projects between Wiltshire’s Black and Minority Ethnic communities and the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre.

We have produced a list of references to black people in the Wiltshire archives and a narrative of early black presence in Wiltshire. Find further information and Windrush & SEEME resources here.  

Wiltshire Remembers the Windrush Generation ran from 2018 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush in June 1948 and focused on the experiences of a generation that moved from the Caribbean to make Britain, and Wiltshire, their home.This project followed on from the successful SEEME project which ran from 2010-2103.

The West Wiltshire Community Club and West Wiltshire Inter-faith Forum approached the History Centre to partner with them in a project celebrating the Windrush generation and the stories of the African Caribbean community in Wiltshire. The project encouraged elders in Wiltshire’s African Caribbean community to share and celebrate with the wider community their heritage and experiences of both the Caribbean and the UK. As well as community events the project’s legacy includes a widely seen touring exhibition and an education resource pack.

Wiltshire Remembers the Windrush Generation and SEEME were both funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, supporting local people and organisations to work with  Wiltshire Council, Wiltshire Music Centre & Salisbury Playhouse to collect life story testimonies from Black, Asian & minority ethnic (BAME) elders across Wiltshire. They have provided learning and participation activities in response to these stories, as well as the creation of audio and video archives exploring people’s experiences of life in England.