Empire Windrush: The Notting Hill Carnival

• Tasks
• Teachers' notes

Late 1950s Britain had a growing number of towns and cities that were racially diverse. Notting Hill had become home to lots of people from the Caribbean who had arrived on Windrush and the accompanying ships.

One of these people was Sam Beaver King. He had served for the RAF during the Second World War and after arriving in Britain on the Empire Windrush, he went on to work for the Post Office for over 30 years. He also supported the first Caribbean carnival set up by Claudia Jones in 1959 and went on to become the first black Mayor of Southwark, London in 1983. Sam King co-founded with Arthur Torrington The Windrush Foundation and was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1998, the year of the 50th anniversary of Windrush. 

Yet this multiculturalism was also accompanied by racial tension and the unfair treatment of black people. For example, some white people refused to rent properties to non-white tenants and black people were also sometimes refused service in restaurants and shops. In Notting Hill and the East End of London, there were groups of people who supported far-right policies such as Oswald Moseley’s Union Party, and who attacked and harassed their black neighbours. 

In 1958 both the Nottingham Race Riots and the Notting Hill riots took place, as violent fights broke out between white and black people. Amid this hostile atmosphere, Trinidadian human rights activist Claudia Jones organised an indoor Caribbean carnival in Notting Hill on 30th January 1959. She wanted to hold an event that brought people together and celebrated Caribbean culture. This is seen as the start of the Notting Hill Carnival.  

Claudia Jones was also the founder and editor of ‘The West Indian Gazette and Afro-Caribbean News. This was viewed as Britain’s first major Black newspaper. Around the same time, political movements, such as the Coloured Peoples Progressive Association and the Association of Advancement of Coloured People, were also established. 

In Notting Hill the following year, Kelso Cochrane, a carpenter who had emigrated to Britain from Antigua, was murdered. He had been attacked by a group of white men in Notting Hill, whilst walking home just after midnight. This was a racist murder and not an attempted robbery as claimed by the Police at the time. His death heightened the growing racial tensions that existed.  

In 1976 riots occurred at the Notting Hill Carnival when Police and carnival goers clashed. This was against a backdrop of anger surrounding police use of the SUS law. There has been much distrust by carnival goers over time, about the Police’s role and presence at the carnival. 

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Tasks

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Teachers' notes

Focus

To encourage pupils to use original sources to find out about the significance of the Notting Hill Carnival and why it began. It is important that teachers ensure that pupils understand these terms: The Colour Bar, discrimination, legislation, immigrant, race-relations. 

The documents used in these lessons cover sensitive subjects and may include language and concepts that are entirely unacceptable and inappropriate today. We suggest that teachers look at the material carefully before introducing to pupils. It would be helpful to discuss the language and ideas contained in a source beforehand. 

All sources could be shown on a whiteboard/ or as a printed copy. It is suggested that teachers read text-based sources together with the pupils.  This lesson also contains two photographs. Therefore, it provides teachers with the opportunity to explore photographs as sources too.  What message are they trying to convey?  Why were they taken? for example. Teachers may wish to break the written documents into smaller extracts if they appear too long or create additional simplified transcripts. All documents include transcripts with information in square brackets to help. Teachers may wish to divide their class into small groups/pairs. Print the questions on separate cards. Ask the pupils to discuss their answers and report back to the class using the whiteboard to display the source. 

• What do the sources reveal about the significance of the Notting Hill Carnival and why it began?  

Part 1: Starter activity

• What is the Notting Hill Carnival?  

Pupils engage with the starter source, a contemporary photograph of the Notting Hill Carnival with prompt questions for discussion.

Part 2: Source exploration

Building on this approach, the pupils study three further sources which encourage them to think about why the Notting Hill Carnival was started and why it is still such an important event today. They look at the passenger list from Empire Windrush to learn about Sam Beaver King, one of the early founders of the Notting Hill Carnival and West Indian Gazette. Pupils then go on to learn about Claudia Jones. Use the photograph of Claudia Jones (founder and editor of ‘The West Indian Gazette and Afro-Caribbean News’ and founder of the indoor Caribbean Carnival which is seen as the beginnings of the Notting Hill Carnival) as a ‘Mystery Document’ with the class. Ask pupils to look at the photograph and then answer the questions. They can then go on to study the Caribbean Carnival Souvenir Programme from 1960, available at the British Library:  Claudia Jones’ Caribbean Carnival Souvenir programme, 1960 | The British Library (bl.uk). This reveals more about the event and its significance. This source can also be used to emphasise the importance of different archives and collections for historians. 

Plenary:

The plenary asks pupils to think about what they have learned from the sources about the Notting Hill Carnival and why it began.  Use the background notes to help provide more context as appropriate. Teachers can also ask pupils to look at the photographs used in the blog written by Principal Records Specialist on Diverse Histories,  Vicky Iglikowski-Broad on The National Archives website: Carnival: bringing a ‘little bit of heaven’ to Notting Hill – The National Archives blog. There is also further guidance for teachers working with photographs as historical sources at: Uncovering the past – The National Archives 

Part 3: Three suggested creative activities:  

1. Design a poster to promote the Notting Hill Carnival today. Include information about its beginnings and why its such an important event for people. 
2. Work in pairs/small groups to research and design your own illustrated Fact File about Claudia Jones and her role in establishing the Notting Hill Carnival.  
3. Ask the class to create a mini-exhibition looking at the contribution made by migrants from the new Commonwealth countries to Britain (e.g. contributions to the NHS, British transport, art, music, politics.) This could include information about individuals such as Sam King and Mona Baptiste. 

Teachers may prefer to use any of the original sources here to create their own resources and activities or adapt the activities provided here for use in their schemes of work. 

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