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City of Westminster Archives Centre

The City of Westminster Archives Centre holds extensive collections relating to family, local, business and community history.

Materials relating to Black & Asian history can be found through our online catalogues and our collections guide "Sources for Black and Asian History at the City of Westminster Archives Centre"

The collections guide gives an overview of Black and Asian material held at the Centre and it can be downloaded from our website - or printed copies can be bought for £7 from our Local History Shop.

Three classes of material included in the guide are particularly worthy of note and invite further research: Westminster parish registers and records; the Westminster theatre collection; and the deposited records of Westminster institutions, societies and businesses.

Westminster City Archives - BME collections guide

More venue information >

 cover of collections guide with portraits of black and asian people
Sources for Black & Asian History at the City of Westminster Archives Centre


Caribbean | Cross-cultural




The exhibition "Westminster & the Transatlantic Slave Trade" focuses on the impact of the slave trade at a local level, drawing on the Centre's extensive archives and local studies collections. The exhibition also documents the lives of the African residents of Westminster during the age of the slave trade.


Caribbean


plan of westminster and map of africa

Exhibition Title Board

Using documents and images from Westminster's archives and local studies collections the exhibition shows that black and Asian people are not new arrivals, but have played an important part in the history of Westminster for the past 500 years. The exhibition aims to encourage black children and adults today to take pride in their heritage by celebrating the achievements of black people.

Westminster and the Transatlantic Slave Trade


Cross-cultural


poster showing an actor in formal dress

Playbill advertising a performance by Morgan Smith

An exhibition "Celebrating the Black Presence in Westminster 1500-2000" is viewable at our website.

Celebrating the Black Presence In Westminster: an online exhibition


Related Articles

13/02/2008 Remarkable Life Of Walter Tull Celebrated By Westminster Archives
28/09/2006 Elisabeth Welch In London
08/06/2007 How Buddhism Came To London
11/12/2006 Who Owns History? An Experience Of Black History Month In London

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World In The East End At Museum In Docklands

photo shows lascars in 19th c

This image of 19th century lascars is just one of the pictures held by the Museum In Docklands, recording the history of the Port of London as it received people and goods from all over the world. The museum building is itself part of that history - being a renovated warehouse that one stored goods brought into the city.

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Search The Diverse Collections Of The Museum Of London Online

photo shows asian man in smart victorian dress with top hat

The Museum Of London's new microsite allows you to search for the story of the many cultures of London in their collections.

This image shows Sir Mancherjee Bhownaggree, MP for Bethnal Green 1895 - 1906. A supporter of British rule in India, he was nicknamed 'bow-the-knee' by opponents. However he also lobbied parliament on the rights of Indian subjects.

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