ANTI-SLAVERY campaigner Bertie Greatheed will be in the spotlight during Black History Month.
Heritage and Culture Warwickshire (HCW) is inviting people to find out more the 18th century landowner and other little known black history stories next week.
Greatheed was the owner of Guy’s Cliffe and the Saxon Mill on the outskirts of Warwick, and although also owning hereditary plantations in St Kitts in the Caribbean, he supported the legislation to ban slavery.
Two illustrated talks, based on his diaries, present his life on the Grand Tour of Europe and as a Warwickshire country gentleman.
“The first part of the talk will focus on Bertie’s journey through France, Switzerland and Italy in the 1780s, including some of the entertaining challenges and rewards of European travel at that time,” explained Anne Langley, one of two speakers at the event.
Her talk will also touch on the death of his only son in Venice in 1804. He adopted his illegitimate grandchild and brought her up to be his heir.
Bridget Winn takes up the story back in England where Bertie was managing his estate, devoted to his little grand-daughter, Ann Caroline, and travelling around England visiting friends and relatives.
The talk is on Monday (October 16) at Warwickshire County Record Office in Warwick at 2pm. Booking is advised and tickets cost £5.
Visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/heritageboxoffice or call 01926 738959 to book.
And there will be a free half hour talk starting on Wednesday (October 18) celebrating black and Asian residents of, and visitors to, Warwickshire over the centuries.
A spokesman said: “We’ll be looking at what kinds of records there are for Black History in the Warwickshire County Record Office
and, perhaps more importantly, what records there aren’t.”
The event, at the record office, starts at 1pm. There is no need to book.
