Jamaica-born Alford Gardner, 97, one of two known surviving adult passengers who arrived in the UK on HMT Empire Windrush in 1948
When HMT Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, on 22 June 1948, around 800 passengers who had voyaged from Jamaica were looking forward to a new life in the UK.
They were the first of a succession of Commonwealth citizens from the Caribbean who travelled to live in Britain between 1948 and 1971 with similar hopes and fears – and who came to be known as the Windrush generation. They had been invited by the UK government to help ease post-war labour shortages, with many taking up roles in the newly formed NHS as well as in transport and construction. Some had served in the British armed forces during the war.
Social documentary photographer Jim Grover was intensely aware of their story – and their cultural contribution to UK life even in the face of racism and discrimination. He lives in Clapham, south London, where some of the Windrush generation settled and their families still live.
Following the success of his exhibition Windrush: Portrait of a Generation, marking the 70th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, he has revisited the community for a fresh look at its experience. Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations, exhibiting at Clapham Library, includes contributions from three generations. Here, he explains why the story is far from over.
Ingrid Munroe has taught her granddaughter Carlicia, 12, how to crochet, a skill known to many first generation Caribbean women
Why was it important for you to mark the 75th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush arriving in the UK?
I have huge respect and admiration for the Windrush generation. Their contribution to this country has been immense. They also brought a distinctive culture to these shores, along with strong family values, new foods and flavours, unique styles of music, domino clubs, and traditions such as the Jamaican funeral rites of ‘nine night’. There is so much I admire.
My 70th anniversary story and exhibition, Windrush: Portrait of a Generation, was such a success, especially in attracting so many of the community, I felt I had to do something for the 75th anniversary. The challenge was to find and tell a new story. Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations focuses on the generations that have followed – we are now on the cusp of a wave of a fifth generation, some great-great-grandchildren – and what the culture and traditions of the first generation mean for subsequent generations. It also shines a light on 11 inspiring individuals, mostly women, seeking to keep the culture and traditions alive for the subsequent generations. I think and hope I am telling a story that hasn’t been told before.
Windrush Day parade in Brixton, June 2022
Following your 70th anniversary exhibition, how have the story and your subjects’ lives moved on?
It’s inevitably a mixture of joy and sadness given the ages of so many of the characters in the original story.
Some, like Alford Gardner and Gilbert Clarke, both of whom are now 97, have rightly received a lot of public recognition and respect. A new community group and centre, the Windrush Generation Legacy Association, has been established in Croydon, in large part because of how my original exhibition inspired a first generation [who arrived] in the 1950s to mark the Windrush legacy.
And there has been sadness too. My first exhibition featured an image showing Diane pouring rum, ‘her last tot’, into the grave of her mother, as is the Jamaican tradition. Soon after Diane became a grandmother for the first time and watched on as her granddaughter, Sariyah, was baptised in the family church, just like her father previously in the same font. And then tragedy struck – Diane died suddenly. Her daughter Jayanne, then aged 19, and the family poured rum into Diane’s grave, holding on to the traditions of Jamaican funerals.
Hermine hosted ‘open house’, an every Friday family gathering in her home in Brixton. She died in the midst of Covid at the age of 82. Two of her daughters are seeking to maintain their mum’s tradition but the family now only gets together for open house on special occasions. And so, the tradition Hermine anchored has been diluted in her next generation. As her daughter, Sandra, reflected: “It was mum who brought us together.”
The Stockwell Good Neighbours community group, formed in 1974 for the over 60s, most of whom were first generation Caribbean migrants
What has the response been from the Windrush community to your work?
It’s been absolutely wonderful. These sorts of projects are a partnership and I have had so much encouragement and support and such a warm welcome, including in so many of their homes. My experience as a documentary photographer is that if people believe your story is important, worth telling and bringing to a wider audience, they are enthusiastic participants.
It’s been quite interesting for me. Often when people in the community meet me for the first time, they are surprised as they assume I will be Black. My heritage is English-Welsh.
Alford Gardner, 97, who served in the RAF during World War 2, is one of just two known remaining adult passengers from that landmark 1948 voyage. Tell us about Alford and your portrait of him.
Alford Gardner is remarkable. His energy and mind are as strong as ever – he doesn’t appear to have aged over the five years since I first spent time with him back in 2018.
He’s been rightly recognised and honoured including meeting with the King in Leeds, and unveiling the Windrush statue in Waterloo Station, London, last June with the then Duke of Cambridge. And there are more surprises in store which I can’t tell you about.
Importantly his son, Howard, has spent the last two years writing his father’s biography which means his remarkable story will be available for generations to come. Finding Home: A Windrush Story will be published in June 2023.
My portrait of Alford was taken in his home, in Leeds, especially for this new exhibition. I spent the day with him, including photographing a Channel 4 TV team interviewing him for a programme they will be showing in June.
Just like last time, Alford’s updated story will open my exhibition.
Jayanne Davis, founder of Jay’s Favourite Cuisines, packages her Jamaican seasoning mix. She is the granddaughter of Floris Bailey, who arrived from Jamaica in the 1950s
Why did you decide to include images of under 16s in the new exhibition?
My new story is all about the generations who have followed and I really wanted to find a way to include the voice of the young generation in my story.
So, I have been asking children aged 16 and under, and with Caribbean heritage, to choose an artefact important to their family history, photograph it with a mobile phone and tell me the story that goes with it. I am also collaborating with three schools in Brixton, Clapham and Croydon. My ambition is to end up with 75 images and to create a wonderful collage in the exhibition space.
It’s probably one of the most challenging things I have sought to do as a documentary photographer – fingers crossed.
The Brixton Immortals Domino Club in collaboration with Lambeth Libraries teaches children like Jeremiah, nine, how to play the game
All images by Jim Grover. The exhibition Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations is at Clapham Library, London, until 2 September 2023. An accompanying book is available to order.
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