Remarkable Residents: Kwes

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders

---

15/15: Kwes

Kwes: Art work for record cover

Kwes (Kwesi Sey) is a record producer, songwriter, musician, mixer and recording artist from Lewisham.

Kwes is best known for his production and collaborative work with a variety of artists including Bobby Womack, Damon Albarn, ELIZA, Kelela, Loyle Carner, Micachu, Nao and Solange. He has also reworked several artists including Hot Chip, Metronomy, Lianne La Havas, Zero 7 amongst many others.

Born in 1987 he has been actively interested in pop music, since he was four years old it began in Lewisham in 1990, raised on a diet of Top of The Pops and the Top 40 Chart Show. On his seventh birthday, Kwes received a gift that rapidly accelerated his musical prowess – a keyboard from his grandmother.

In 2011 signed with Warp Records and in the summer of that year Kwes travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of Oxfam's DRC Music project. He was invited along by Damon Albarn to join a team of fellow producers and musicians that included Richard Russell, Actress and T-E-E-D.

In summer 2012 and early winter 2013, Kwes partnered with Go Opera and Peroni Brewery to create a series of opera concerts, entitled as Opera di Peroni. The project was staged live in various cities throughout the UK and had featured Kwes’ and Go Opera's take on selected arias from Verdi's La Traviata and Puccini's La Boheme and La Rondine.

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Maxi Priest

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders

---

14/15: Maxi Priest

Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is an English reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one of the first international artists to have success in this genre, and one of the most successful reggae fusion acts of all time.

Maxi Priest was born in Lewisham, the second youngest of nine brothers and sisters. His parents had moved to England from Jamaica to provide more opportunity for their family. His father was a steelworker in a factory, while his mother devoted her life to Christianity; she was a missionary at a Pentecostal Church and lead singer for the church choir, and as a youngster.  Maxi grew up listening to Jamaican greats such as Dennis Brown, John Holt, Ken Boothe and Gregory Isaacs as well as singers like Marvin Gaye, Al Green, the Beatles, Phil Collins and Frank Sinatra.

He was working as a carpenter when he was invited to build speaker boxes for the prominent Saxon International sound system. It wasn't long before his contacts there discovered that he could sing as well, and soon he was participating in live dancehall shows; in 1984, he and Paul "Barry Boom" Robinson also co-produced Phillip Levi's "Mi God Mi King," the first U.K.- born reggae single to hit number one.  

His first major album was the self-titled Maxi Priest (1988) which established him as one of the top British reggae singers.

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Erica Pienaar

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders

---

12/15: Dame Erica Pienaar DBE, FRSA

(born 20 March 1952) schoolteacher, educationist, Freedom of the Borough of Lewisham

Erica was born in Cape Town. On Christmas Eve 1954, her family chose to leave the country boarding a ship bound for Southampton. Her family quickly established themselves in Crystal Palace and has been loyal to her South East London ‘roots’ ever since. Erica’s family revered education; it was clearly understood that it was through a good education that one not only developed as a person but also gained control of one’s destiny.

 She began her career as a Science Teacher in 1973 and taught for 40 years in South East London. Until her retirement in September 2013, she was Executive Head Teacher of the Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools. The Federation was established in September 2008 in Lewisham and comprises three Colleges: Prendergast-Hilly Fields College, Prendergast-Ladywell Fields College and Prendergast-Vale College.

 In 2013, Erica was made an honorary Freewoman of the Borough, for her illustrious career in Lewisham. The Council agreed:

‘Her involvement in national and educational change has inspired countless educationists, teachers and students with resulting significant local and national impact. Her belief in our young people has shone through her work and has changed their futures.’

Erica was appointed a Dame on the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, for her long and distinguished career in education.

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Mica Paris

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

11/15: Mica Paris

(born Michelle Antoinette Wallen; 7 April 1969) 

is a British singer, actress and presenter on radio and television.

She was born in Islington and moved to Lewisham when she was about nine. She grew up singing in her grandparents' church and by her mid teens was making regular appearances with 'The Spirit of Watts' gospel choir. At the age of seventeen, she got her first break as a backing vocalist with the UK band Hollywood Beyond.

In 1988 she released her debut, platinum-selling album, 'So Good’ from which she had her first top ten hit, 'My One Temptation'. 

Mica Paris is one of the UK’s most respected female singers with a career full of Top 10 hit singles and albums worldwide. 2003 saw Paris being presented with the Gold Badge Award by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters for her special contribution to the British entertainment industry. In 2004 she was in the Top 10 list of the 100 Great Black Britons, which was compiled to celebrate the achievements and contributions made by the British Black community over the centuries. 

In 2007 she wrote an empowering book 'Beautiful Within,' to critical acclaim. Mica has extended her talents, acting in many dramas and performing in numerous West End musicals.

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Resident: Ignatius Sancho

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

10/15: Ignatius Sancho

Ignatius Sancho (c.1729 – 14 December 1780) writer, campaigner, abolitionist, composer, shopkeeper.

He was celebrated in the late 18th-century as a man of letters, a social reformer and an acute observer of English life. He gained fame in his time, and to eighteenth-century British abolitionists he became a symbol of the humanity of Africans and immorality of the slave trade.

Sancho grew up an orphan. At the age of two he was taken from West Africa to London where he was forced to work as a slave for three sisters at a house in Greenwich. During this time he met the 2nd Duke of Montagu, who lived in nearby Blackheath. He liked the young Ignatius and bought him books, and tried to persuade the sisters to educate him. After the duke’s death Sancho ran away from the house in Greenwich and persuaded the duke’s widow to employ him. Sancho worked in the Montagu household for the next 20 years, serving as Mary Montagu’s butler until the Duchess’s death in 1751, and then as valet to George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, until 1773.

 In 1758 Sancho married Anne Osborne, a West Indian woman with whom he had seven children. After Sancho left the Montagu household, the couple opened a grocery store in Westminster, where Sancho, by then a well-known cultural figure, maintained an active social and literary life until his death in 1780. As a financially independent male householder, Sancho became eligible to vote and did so in 1774 and again just before his death in 1780. He was the first person of African descent to vote in a British general election. He is also the first known person of African descent to have an obituary published in British newspapers.

After his death in 1782 Sancho’s letters were published as 'The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African'. They contained reflections on slavery and empire, as well as his own vexed experiences as a highly educated person of African origin living in London. Sancho was an avid reader and pursued a self-taught education, taking full advantage of the libraries at the Montagu house, as well as its constant stream of highly cultured visitors. When Thomas Gainsborough visited to paint the portrait of the Duchess of Montagu, he also had Sancho sit for a portrait. As well as appearing on the stage, Sancho was particularly productive as a composer of music. He published four collections of compositions and a treatise entitled 'A Theory of Music'.

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Doreen Lawrence

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

9/15: Doreen Lawrence OBE

Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon OBE is an anti-racism campaigner and founder of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust in 1998. She received an OBE in 2003 for services to community relations. In 2012 she won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Pride of Britain Awards and was made a life peer in 2013. In January 2016, she was appointed as Chancellor of De Montfort University. She is a member of both the board and the council of Liberty, and patron of hate crime charity, Stop Hate UK. 

Doreen Lawrence was born in Jamaica in 1952. She immigrated to England aged nine, and later became a bank worker. She is the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a British teenager who was murdered in a racist attack in Eltham in 1993. For many years, Doreen has sought justice for her son while creating a positive and dynamic legacy in his honour. She and Stephen’s father, Neville Lawrence, founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust in 1998 to promote a positive community legacy in their son’s name.

A public inquiry into the handling of Stephen’s case was held in 1998, leading to the publication of the Macpherson Report, one of the most important moments in the modern history of criminal justice in Britain.  It led to profound cultural changes to attitudes on racism, to the law and to police practice.  It also paved the way for a greater understanding of discrimination of all forms and new equality legislation.

In 2000, she set up the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to help young people realise their ambitions to become architects. In 2008, the Stephen Lawrence Centre was opened in Deptford, giving thousands more young people an opportunity to nurture and use their creativity. In 2014 she was awarded Freedom of the Borough for her services to the borough.

The Council agreed: ‘To do one of these things in the wake of such a devastating personal tragedy would be remarkable but to do both indicates someone deserving of the highest recognition. The dignity and humanity that she has demonstrated makes her a truly inspirational figure for our borough.’

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Jimmy Hendrix

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

8/15: Jimmy Hendrix

(born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and rock legend lived in Hither Green in late 1966. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century.

Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and trained as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division; he was granted an honourable discharge the following year. Soon afterwards, he moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the Chitlin' Circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after being discovered by Linda Keith, who in turn interested bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals in becoming his first manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary". He achieved fame in the U.S. after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the U.S.; it was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his first and only number one album. The world's highest-paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, before his accidental death from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970, at the age of 27.

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Sybil Pheonix

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

7/15: Sybil Phoenix OBE

The first black woman to be awarded the MBE in 1971 and then the OBE in 2008 for services to the community. A Methodist Minister and former Mayoress of Lewisham, she still runs a sheltered accommodation for homeless young women in Brockley.

In 1996, Phoenix was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Lewisham, and in 1998 was awarded the Freedom of the City of London.

The Council recognised: 'Her unique contribution over many years to community relations and the welfare of children in the borough; in particular, her pioneering multi-racial work in the fostering of teenagers, youth club leadership and hostel provision for girls, inspiring people of all ages with her generosity and spiritual strength.'

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Ian Wright

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

6/15: Ian Edward Wright 

Ian Edward Wright, MBE. Born 3 November, 1963, in Woolwich and raised on the Honor Oak Estate in Brockley.

A former professional footballer and television and radio personality - currently a studio pundit for BBC Sport, ITV Sport and BT Sport.

Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he lifted the Premier League title, both the major domestic cup competitions, and the European Cup Winners Cup. He played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs in Scotland and England, earning 33 caps for the English national team. Wright also played in the Premier League for West Ham United, the Scottish Premier League for Celtic and the Football League for Burnley and Nottingham Forest. As of 2016–17, he is Arsenal's second-highest scorer of all time and Crystal Palace's third-highest.

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Desmond Tutu

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

5/15: Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu OMSG CH GCStJ
(born 7 October 1931)                                                         
South African Anglican cleric and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist.

In 1972 the Theological Education Fund of South Africa offered Tutu a job as their director for Africa. Its headquarters were in Bromley. The Tutu family  relocated to London and settled in Catford, living on Brownhill Road. Tutu became honorary curate of St Augustine's Church, Grove Park, 1972-1975.

He was awarded Freedom of the Borough of Lewisham in 1990. The Council paid tribute to his: 'Courageous non-violent struggle against apartheid and the inspiration he has given to oppressed peoples everywhere; and we take pride in him as a former resident of the borough. Above all we are recognising his human qualities: his courage and enthusiasm, his intellectual vigour and wit, his gentle care and compassion, and his resilience in the face of adversity.'

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Gabrielle

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

4/15: Gabrielle

Louise Gabrielle Bobb (born 16 April 1970) known professionally as Gabrielle, is an British singer and songwriter. Gabrielle grew up in Brockley, the oldest of four children.


She released her debut single "Dreams" in 1993 which topped the UK Singles Chart the same year. Other singles include "Going Nowhere", "Give Me a Little More Time", "Walk On By" and "If You Ever" – a duet with East 17. After a few quiet years Gabrielle made a comeback with "Rise", which became Gabrielle's second UK number one in 2000. "Out of Reach" from the soundtrack to the film Bridget Jones's Diary reached number four in the UK Singles Chart.



Gabrielle won two Brit Awards for Best Newcomer in 1994, Best Female in 1997 and was also awarded an Ivor Novello in 2008 for Outstanding Song Collection.  Over the years she has also picked up two MOBO awards, including one at the very first awards in 1996. ''Under My Skin'' is her first album in 11 years. During her incredible career she has sold over 10 million records.  

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Les Eytle

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

3/15: Les Eytle

James Leslie Hicks Eytle: Councillor, First Black Mayor in Lewisham, Freedom of the Borough of Lewisham

He served for 24 years as a Councillor, was Mayor twice (1984–85 and 1990–91) and Deputy Mayor once. Les passed away in 2010 after a long life serving the wider community of Lewisham.

The Council agreed: 'During his long association with the Council he has been instrumental in bringing about changes that have enhanced the Council's reputation as a leading authority in the UK. Les' legacy to Lewisham is tolerance, integrity, fairness and honesty and his work and career is best personified by the Council's motto Salus Populi Suprema Lex; the welfare of the people above everything else.'

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Resident: Desmond Dekker

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

2/15: Desmond Dekker

Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter famous for one of the first international reggae hits the 'Israelites' (1968). He lived in Forest Hill and Lee for a number of years. Whilst living in the area he had a massive hit with 'You can get it if you really want it' (1970). He was a great influence on the British reggae and ska music scene.

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

Remarkable Residents: Wozzy Brewster

Throughout October to celebrate Black History Month the Lewisham Local History Archive Centre will post our chosen 15 truly remarkable residents. People who were born in the borough or lived within its borders.

---

1/15: Wozzy Brewster, OBE FRSA

Spent over thirty years designing, shaping and delivering youth arts projects in theatre, new media and music. She has worked with hundreds of young people to help them achieve their creative goals. She provides them with invaluable guidance, knowledge and direction.

The Council agreed: 'She grew up in Deptford and has been making a difference to young people ever since, helping many of them become involved in music and arts. She founded the Midi Music Company and is still running it today. She has been a marvellous source of advice, encouragement and inspiration to many in Lewisham across all ages, demonstrating which she is an appropriate recipient of the highest award the borough can make.'

---

Local History and Archives Centre. Email:local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk