Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service - Sources for Records relating to Ethnic Minority Groups

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): BLARS

Title: Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service - Sources for Records relating to Ethnic Minority Groups

Date(s): 1699 - 1995

Level of description: Fonds

Extent and medium of the unit of description:

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s): BLARS

Administrative/Biographical history: The collection is the result of an equal opportunities research project which ran between 1991 - 1993. The aim of the project was to develop finding aids and produce a source list as way of encouraging easier access and knowledge of holdings related specifically to the county's numerous community groups.

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: The collection is a conspectus or source list of printed sources and archival records related to ethnic minorities in the county. The ethnic groups covered include: African, African-American, African-Caribbean, (white) American, Indian, Pakistani, Austrian, Belgians, Danes, Dutch, French, Germans, Greeks, Travellers, Hungarians, Iranians, Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Japanese and Jewish people, Norwegians, Swiss, Ukrainians, and Welsh people.

The list includes correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings. Of note are the records found in the following categories

• African-Americans
• African - Caribbean
• Africans
• Asian - General
• Asian/ Indians
• Asian/ Pakistani

Archival records in the African section include:

• HW 87/496 .Copy of a judgement upholding the validity of a marriage between William Heath, an agent of the Gambia Company and a black woman, Speranca Booker, October 1693, made in the absence of a priest on James Island in Gambia River. Speranca was sent to England shortly after the marriage and gave birth to a daughter in the parish of St. Dunstan, Stepney. Judgement made 12 March 1696.
• L 30/11/123/23. Letter describing the visit of the Abyssinian Omoi to Kew to meet George III (26 July 1774 ).
• Z 50/142/560 Photograph of the Rev. T.P. Wilson Pavenham with 3 chiefs from Uganda (1880)
• Z 535/20 Newspaper cutting Ugandan chiefs visit Bedford (1950)

Archival records in the African - American section include:

• M.W. 85/51, Letter from Thos. Storey and Roger Gill (Philadelphia) to Theodore Eccleston on the spread of Quaker ideas several even of the poor black slaves lately convinced. (1699)
• Q.G.V. 10/4 p. 63 Gaol Register. Thomas Jenkins. Born Louisville, State of Alabama (photograph) (1863)
• Mic 198, Bedford Bee p. 359. Black American Harvard graduate De Witter Dumas unable to get work (1879)

Archival records in the African/Caribbean section include:

• ABP/W 1745/22, Will of William Rudd of Carlton. - Bequest to maidservant Sabina the Black (13 July 1745)
• P 30/72/1, Ampthill Overseers Accounts - Relieved a Stranger a Black with a pass signed by two Magistrates 6d.(3 Mar 1815)
• Z 50/9/418, Photograph of Joe Clough with British Legion Poppy Bus, see also BT negative box F164 of 26.11.1962 (n.d. c1920)
• X 544/24/1, Papers re St. Andrew's West Indian Club & Bedford Committee for West Indian Welfare 1956-1964
• CH/V 94/270, Case conferences for children in care. Has details on West Indian children, (1968-1973)
• X 494/64/29, Death of Joe Clough aged 91, taxi driver and first West Indian immigrant to Bedford (1912), Bedford Constituency Labour Party Scrap Book No. 29 (1977)
• X 819/1/1, Accusation of racism against Bedford Caribbean Youth Organisation - in file of L.T. Holden, Councillor (1981)
• ACC/C1/15, Statistics re Afro-Caribbean/Asian magistrates (1983)
• Em/Sub P2/7, Proposal for funding for Bedford Caribbean Focus '86, (May 1986)
• DCNM 52, Report of Director of Administration, N.B.B.C., on Bedford Afro-Caribbean Self Help Association (5 Jan 1987)
• DCNM 52, Bedford Afro-Caribbean Self Help Development Plan 1987-1990 (In agenda paper Finance and General Purposes Committee, N.B.B.C., March 1987)
• Em/Sub P2/26, Paper: Black people and disabilities (July 1989)
• Negative No. 4259, Photograph. Mr. Cough, Bedford West Indian taxi driver (26 Dec 1950)
• Em/Sub P2/24, Request for financial assistance from Mary Seacole House Management (Nov 1989)
• Em/Sub P2/24 & 25, Request for funds by BACSHA (Bedford Afro-Caribbean Self Help Association)Nov & Jan 1990
• Em/Sub P2/26, Paper: Utilising the skills available in black communities by Edward Gretton (1990)
• E/Sub P21/8, Report. Youth Work with Black Young People (18 September 1991)
• Fac 141/2, Details of a black history course given by Steve Stephenson (1992)
• Z 901/1, Official programme for the 5th Anniversary of Bedford Carnival - Carnival '95 - in Bedford on 12th August 1995. Programme includes introduction, poetry page, details of march, (with map), children's page, map of Carnival, attractions in Russell Park, what is Carnival,and advertisements [16pp]

Archival records in the 'Asian-General' section include:

• SM/E 85, Photograph album contains photographs of a Miss Singh (c.1904-1925)
• X 544/24/1, Papers re funding for an Asian priest in Bedford (1967)
• CS 1302/6, File regarding resettlement of Ugandan Asians. (1972-1976)The Ugandan Resettlement Board made plans for the temporary reception of Asian families in several resettlement centres. The file includes a list of resettlement centres plus departure records from the centres for those settling in Bedfordshire. The file also contains official material on the race relations bill, 1975.
• E/Sub P 9/6,Youth service provision for young Asians in Luton in A Discussion Paper Outlining Possible Developments within the Luton Area. (20 Mar 1985)
• MB 2067-9, Committee minutes, membership list, accounts, and papers concerning the Southend Asian Christian Congregation and “Project Punjab” (1973 - )

Archival records in the 'Asian-Indian' section include:

• Z 50/141/401, A Bengal Syce or groom. Photo of a pen and ink drawing by J.H.Brooks (c.1850)

  P134/31/11, Revised Edition of the Order of Morning and Evening Prayer in Urdu from the Book of Common Prayer (1960)

• Z 833/1-4, Reminiscences and photographs people living in Bedford from Punjabi (1994)
• E/YM 4/1/17, File on use of Westfield Youth Centre, Bedford, including use of premises by the Young Indians’ Association (1968-1987)

Click here to access information found in local newspapers

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

System of arrangement: The first section has an overview of those records series that might contain references to ethnic groups, comprising: - parish records;- wills;- records of Quarter Sessions;- estate records;- Trade Directories and Census Returns;- war records;- local government records including health reports, education, housing and equal opportunities issues;- newspapers; and - records of organisations.

The second section has lists of records relating to individual ethnic groups, comprising the following groups: Africans [in general];- African Americans;- African Caribbeans;- Americans;- American Indians [native Americans];- Asians [in general];- Asians: Indians;- Asians: Pakistanis;- Asians: Thais;- Austrians;- Belgians;- Chinese;- Czechoslovakians;- Danes;- Dutch;- French;- Germans;- Greeks;- Gypsies;- Hungarians;- Iranians [Persians];- Irish;- Italians;- Japanese;- Jews;- Norwegians;- Poles;- Scots;- Spanish;- Swiss;- Ukrainians; and Welsh. Click here for further details

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access: Please contact the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service by email BLARS, telephone Tel 01234 228833/228777, Fax 01234 228854 or by writing to Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service, County Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford MK42 9AP, England

Conditions governing reproduction:

Language/scripts of material: English

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids: Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service, 'Sources for Records Relating to Ethnic Minority Groups (1999)

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals: Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service

Existence and location of copies:

Related units of description:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:

Interest: Caribbean, Black, Asian

Specific group: African-Americans, Africans, Indians, Pakistani

Subjects

Education

Cultural heritage

Intercultural education

Multiple heritage peoples

Photographs

Social history

Migration

Ethnic groups

Interethnic relations

Personal/Corporate names

Young Indians' Association

Southend Asian Christian Association

ST Andrews West Indian Club

Bedford Committee for West Indian Welfare

Bedford Caribbean Youth Organisation

Bedford Afro-Caribbean Self Help Association

Ugandan Resettlement Board

Places

Bedfordshire, United Kingdom