Exhibition uncovers town's black Georgian community

An exhibition exploring the lives of the black Georgian community in Rotherham has launched at Wentworth Woodhouse.

The display, called Fractured, brings to light some of the earliest recorded African-descended people who passed through the stately home over the centuries.

The project, which will be on display for two weeks, was created by Dig Where You Stand, an archival justice movement made up of artists, archivists, educators and community members.

Creative director Désirée Reynolds said their research focused on stories before 1945 to show that people of colour were "deeply embedded" in the history of South Yorkshire.

Ms Reynolds, the artist in residence at Sheffield City Archives, told BBC Radio Sheffield: "The black Georgian community has been well documented around other places in the UK, especially in London.

"But it's really quite new for us up here and what Dig Where You Stand is trying to do is to give them, not necessarily a voice, but a personhood so that they are real people that existed."

Ms Reynolds said while scouring records from Wentworth Woodhouse, including staffing and payments, they came across names such as George Senegal and Thomas Blake.

According to their findings, Mr Senegal was at Wentworth Woodhouse for 15 years, starting in 1763, while Thomas Blake was employed from 1721.

Ms Reynolds said they had previously believed the earliest African-descended based at the home dated back to 1725 and said realising it had been earlier was "groundbreaking".

"When we think about how long ago that was and what that means for re-narrating our region and thinking about race and identity in a different way, then this is why this kind of work is really important," she said.

Fractured runs until 13 November, and is open from 10:00 to 16:00 GMT.

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