Thomas Scott McLean was baptised in 1835, at the age of 16, in East Stone House. He was captured from Mozambique as an infant. There is very little information about his life and how he came to be in Plymouth 28 years after the abolition of slavery in England. 

Jimmy Peters was the first black player to play for England. He had a tragic and a turbulent life which started with his father being mauled by a lion. He then spent childhood in an orphanage where his talents were evident. He played for Plymouth in 1903 and then Devon county where South African Springboks refused to play with him on behalf of his colour.

William (Bill) Miller was the first black councillor. He was the son of a man from Sierra Leone who was freed from Slavery. Bill was born in Stonehouse and fought in World Ward I in the Royal Marine Flying Corps. After the war he worked in the dockyard, joined the Labour party and was very active with Trade Unions. He was known as “The Poor man’s lawyer”. During the second world war he was very concerned about protecting his family and local people and organized unauthorized evacuations which resulted in his arrest.
 

Sam Kallon left Sierra Leone in 1999, fleeing the devastating effects of the civil war in his homeland for the shores of Plymouth with his wife Isatta Kallon. In Plymouth he rallied other people (regardless of their race or creed) to mobilize and form the Masiande centre to support and help refugees. Sam sadly passed away in 2002.  His work and dedication was continued by his wife to create Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support. 

Ann Wilkinson set up the first Respect Festival in 1998, which aimed to celebrate diversity and create community. She was instrumental in the formation of what is now the Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council. She was a formidable woman who was a key driving force in tackling racism and discrimination in Plymouth. Ann passed away on the 7th of October 2020. Her story and achievements are currently being documented by WonderZoo in collaboration with The Box.

Mary Seacole was known as “The Black Florence Nightingale”. While facing marginalisation she courageously nursed sick and injured soldiers during the Crimean War. In 1857 a fund-raising gala was raised for Mary in London which over 80,000 people attended.  A statue of “Mother Seacole” as she was affectionately called by the soldiers was erected in London in 2016. In Plymouth Mary Seacole Road in Millfields, on the site of a former naval hospital, was named after her. Mary died in 1881.

John (Jack) Francis Leslie was born in 1901 in Islington, London, and started to play for Plymouth in 1921. The only black player in the Football league at the time. He toured and played in South America with Plymouth Argyle. Jack was inexplicably overlooked to play for England in spite of his talent and spent the last years of his life cleaning the boots of white football players. Plymouth honoured Jack’s legacy by erecting a statue in 2022.

Claude Miller was the son of Bill Miller, the first Black Mayor in Plymouth who served in the RAF in the second world war. After the war, he built up his shop from the ground up in Union Street, Plymouth. Claude became a Justice of the peace in 1968 and served until 1985. In 1981 he was elected to serve as a councillor where he worked tirelessly becoming Lord Mayor in 2004 and receiving an MBE from the Queen. Claude Died in 2014 at the age of 99. 

Ratna Lachman was a human rights activist and campaigner who started her career as a journalist and broadcaster. She moved to the UK in 1990 and immediately began to work to support victims of racial attacks. She set up the Rural Racism Project South West. She was also instrumental in setting up Refugees First and the Anti Racism Task Force. Ratna died on the 27th of July 2017.