Students who took part in a black history walk around Walthamstow learnt that black people have been living in the area for hundreds of years.
Records kept at the Vestry House Museum and St Mary’s Church in Walthamstow show that black people were buried in the churchyard as long ago as 1693.
Peter Ashan, the museum’s learning and outreach officer who conducted the tour, said that 17th and 18th century burial records show that several people were buried with the name Blackman and Blackmore.
“This was a common surname given to black people who lived in the workhouses of Walthamstow at that time,” he added.
He explained that Walthamstow was then home to the very rich, including bankers, merchants and even slave traders, some who would have had black people as servants.
“Baptism records from the 1730s also show there was a family, Hugh Blackmore and his wife Annie, who lived in Chingford as free people,” he said.
The walk was one of a series of cultural events organised by Waltham Forest College in October to celebrate Black History Month.
When Nana Mensah, studying IT and life skills, was asked when he thought black people first settled in Walthamstow his answer was 1947.
“It has given me an understanding that there have been people of different cultures living here for a lot longer than I thought,” he said.
Seven students with a range of learning difficulties and disabilities were among those who took part in the tour.
Their teacher Rosita Matyniowna said: “This walk has enabled us to develop links for students within the community that are going to help to enrich their college programme.”
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