Nottinghill

• Notting Hill is an area of West London. After the Second World War, many Caribbean people migrated to Notting Hill. The area was very run down and housing was a major problem.
• Why did Caribbean migrants settle in Notting Hill?

  Notting Hill station is very close to Paddington station, which is where the trains carrying Caribbean migrants stopped. Caribbean migrants wanted to live near or with their family in Notting Hill. The black community in Notting Hill grew larger.
• Housing problems in Notting Hill

  • Caribbean migrants had to pay high rents for poor, squalid housing
  • Landlords charged Caribbean people higher rents than white people for the same type of accommodation, leading to overcrowding
  • Few landlords made repairs to their houses as to spend money would reduce their profits
  • Peter Rachman owned 80 run-down, squalid properties in Notting Hill, charging high rents and intimidating tenants
• The Notting Hill Housing Trust

  Bruce Kenrick, a minister in the United Reform Church, founded the Trust in 1965 to provide decent houses at affordable rents to people in the community. By 1970 the Trust was housing nearly 1,000 people, improving their lives.
• The British government had advertised in the Caribbean for people to go to Britain to help rebuild the country after the Second World War. These migrants were known as 'the Windrush generation'.
• Slum landlords in Notting Hill

  • Houses in Notting Hill were often large but cheap to buy because they were bomb-damaged
  • Many landlords applied to change the houses they owned into Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), where several people or families shared a single house with poor quality facilities
  • There were no rent controls so landlords could charge what they liked
• Portobello Road Market


  Caribbean migrants began to sell Caribbean food such as yams and breadfruit there, and a cafe serving Caribbean food opened. In 1969 Island Records, founded in Jamaica, moved its base to near Portobello Road, giving the area a reputation for Caribbean music and culture.
• Development of Caribbean culture in Notting Hill

  • A Caribbean community began to develop, with migrants supporting each other and maintaining their traditions
  • Caribbean restaurants, music venues, and youth clubs opened, attracting people from across London
  • There were lots of different Caribbean groups in Notting Hill, each with their own culture, making it a rich and vibrant community
• The development of All Saints Road


  • The Mangrove restaurant, opened in 1966, was the first Black-owned restaurant in the area and very popular
  • The headquarters of the activist group British Black Panthers was set up there in 1968
  • The Apollo was the first pub to serve black people
  • The Notting Hill Carnival organisers often met in the Mangrove
• Caribbean migrants, often living in cramped accommodation, developed a sense of community and mutual self-help organisations to support each other.
• Mutual self-help organisations set up by the Caribbean community

  • The London Free School, which arranged childcare and activities for children
  • The Unity Association, which owned properties to house homeless black youngsters
  • The Black People's Information Centre, which provided legal advice, welfare support, and information on black history and civil rights
• Some banks did not allow black people to open accounts and some building societies refused to give them a mortgages. Parochial schemes helped black people save so that they could buy their own homes.
• Caribbean residents, often living in cramped accommodation, set up their own sound systems and centres where they could meet and socialise
• The Caribbean community set up groups to help and support each other. These groups also helped give Caribbean migrants a deeper sense of identity
• The London Free School arranged childcare and organised activities for children. This was vital as many childminders refused to take black children
• The Unity Association owned two properties where it housed homeless black youngsters who usually had great difficulty in finding housing
• The Black People's Information Centre provided legal advice and welfare support. It also provided information on black history and civil rights
• Some banks did not allow black people to open accounts and some building societies refused to give them a mortgage. Pardner schemes helped black people save so that they could buy their own homes
• Racism and police discrimination were common throughout Britain in the years 1940 to 1970. Many black people were, for example, refused entry to pubs, restaurants and taxis. The Metropolitan Police, responsible for policing, were mostly white and black people who tried to join were rejected because of their colour
• On 30 August 1958 a crowd of 400 white people attacked the homes of Caribbean people. They used bricks, bars, clubs and knives. Black people defended their homes. The riots lasted 3 days before the police restored order
• The riots had an impact in several ways: the police had to accept that the riots were racially motivated, and the black community refused to accept that they had been involved in a riot, claiming they were simply defending themselves and their property, not rioting
• Organisations were formed to fight for black equality. Among these were the Inter-Racial Friendship Coordinating Council and the West Indies Standing Conference
• The White Defence League was an anti-immigrant organisation demanding that Britain should be 'kept white'. It later joined with the British National Party, a move seen by the Caribbean community as provocative and likely to encourage violent acts against them
• On 17 May 1959 Kelso Cochrane, aged 32, was murdered by a gang of white youths. The murderers were never caught. People in the black community were angry, believing the police were too busy claiming the attack was not racist, instead of trying to catch the killers
• Kelso Cochrane's funeral was attended by hundreds of white and black people, demonstrating support for the black community. Members of the Inter-Racial Friendship Coordinating Council asked the British prime minister to make racially motivated violence a crime. However, the government instead allowed the White Defence League to hold a rally in Trafalgar Square on 24 May 1959
• Notting Hill became a focus for anti-immigrant groups, intent on stirring up fear among the migrant community. This fear was worsened because migrants didn't believe the police would protect them
• Teddy boys roamed the streets looking for black people to attack. They were part of a gangland culture that flourished in Notting Hill, making it a dangerous place for Caribbean migrants
• The Union Movement was a far-right group led by Oswald Mosley. Its slogan was 'Keep Britain White' and it had offices in Notting Hill, deliberately established there in order to make the black community fearful
• In the 1959 general election Mosley ran for Parliament to win the seat of Kensington North, which included Notting Hill, in his violent and racist campaign, the falsely claimed amongst other things that black people were criminals and rapists. He only received 8.08% of the votes and the party never recovered from the defeat
• Claudia Jones, born in Trinidad, was deported from the USA in 1955 because of her civil rights activities. She moved to Britain and in 1958 set up the West Indian Gazette, Britain's first major newspaper for black people
• Claudia Jones persuaded London Transport to allow black people to ride to senior positions. She campaigned against the 1962 Commonwealth Immigration Act that restricted immigration from black, but not white, Commonwealth countries
• Claudia Jones persuaded the West Indian Gazette to sponsor the first Caribbean Carnival in 1959. The first Caribbean Carnival featured black entertainers such as Cleo Laine and took place in St Pancras Town Hall, London, on 30 January 1959
• In 1966, two years after Jones' death, the event moved outdoors. Now known as the Notting Hill Carnival, today it is the biggest street festival in Europe
• Frank Crichlow's Mangrove restaurant was regularly raided by police for drugs. None were ever found. Furious at police action, in 1970 the British Black Panthers helped organise a protest march
• The police claimed the marchers were inciting violence. Many were arrested, among them Crichlow, the Mangrove's owner. Magistrates dismissed the charges, but the Director of Public Prosecutions decided nine defendants, including Crichlow, had to be tried. All defendants were acquitted of the serious charges. The trial was seen as a great victory for the black community
• The Black Panther Party, formed in 1968, campaigned against police brutality and on social issues. They aimed to build a sense of pride in the black community. Their leaders included Darcus Howe, Althela Jones-LeConte and Olive Morris