I headed down to Clerkenwell, just beyond the bounds of the City of London, to visit the London Metropolitan Archive and speak to Howard Doble, senior archivist there. The exhibition is upstairs where the archive itself is located but, as you ascend the stairs, there is a timeline of names and events connected to the history of black people in London as a whole and the City in particular. There are names and dates of births, deaths, marriages and historical events lining walls, providing context for the stories explored within the exhibition itself.

The exhibition itself is fairly compact but rich and dense with the stories of tens of people of colour, who have some connection to London and its history. Many of their stories have come to light through the LMA’s switching the lens project, which uses the huge amount of information contained within church records to tell the stories of Londoners of African, Caribbean, Asian and Indigenous Heritage, 1561 to 1840. Several familiar figures are featured but there are many interesting examples of people of colour who were successful trailblazers in past times, whose stories are not very well known. Some are tragic, some are inspirational, all are an evocative and powerful tribute to the lives of those who were part of this city and its history.