Plaque

Ellen and William Craft - blue plaque

Erection date: 5/10/2021

Inscription

Ellen Craft, c.1826 - c.891, and William Craft, c.1824 - 1900, refugees from slavery and campaigners for its abolition, lived here.
English Heritage

Site: Ellen and William Craft - blue plaque (1 memorial)

W6, Cambridge Grove, 26

The Crafts have another plaque in this road but English Heritage are clear that this (number 26) is the house in which the Crafts settled after their escape from slavery in America. Here they raised their children.

The most detailed description of the Crafts' time in Britain that we have found is at Jeffrey Green who states that they were in Britain 1851-69. Having escaped slavery in 1848 the Crafts then had to escape the slave-catchers and so sailed to Liverpool in late 1850. They joined a fellow escaped slave on the lecture circuit and in 1851-2 they were in Ockham in Surrey at a school, studying themselves, teaching handicrafts and carpentry and also having a son. Green states that the Crafts had moved to Hammersmith by 1855 when another child was born at home, Beavor Cottage, and that 12 Cambridge Road (which became 26 Cambridge Grove) was purchased in 1857 (thought it's not clear who bought it). This was the address that William Craft gave in his preface to the publication that told their story: Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery, 1860.

After the end of the American Civil War and the legal emancipation of enslaved people, the Crafts returned to Boston in August 1869 with three of their children.

The railway runs very close to this house. Wikipedia reports that the Kensington and Richmond line of the London and South Western Railway opened in 1869. We'd really like to know whether the houses in what was then Cambridge Road were built before or after the railway was constructed. OS 1868-83 map and OS 1840s-1860s map both show this street but not clearly enough and the dates are not definitive enough for us to be certain either way. 

If the houses were built first then the arrival of the railway involved the demolition of the house immediately next door to number 26.  Also, the road in front of number 26 had to be dug out to allow vehicles to pass under the rail line. The disruption to anyone living in number 26 must have been awful. 

We thank our colleague Alan Patient for these photos.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Ellen and William Craft - blue plaque

Subjects commemorated i

Ellen Craft

Slavery abolitionist. Born in Clinton, Georgia. She and her husband William w...

Read More

William Craft

Slavery abolitionist. Born in Macon, Georgia. He and his wife Ellen were ensl...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Ellen and William Craft - blue plaque

Created by i

English Heritage

English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that ma...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

King's Cross Station

King's Cross Station

NW1, Euston Road, King's Cross Station

A few years later, in 1854, Lewis Cubitt also designed the much more traditional Great Northern Hotel, a bit of which you can see on the ...

3 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
National Theatre foundation - 1976

National Theatre foundation - 1976

SW1, Belvedere Road, National Theatre

This group of plaques is in the ground floor seating area.

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Nicholas Culpeper

Nicholas Culpeper

E1, Commercial Street, 92

2014 the shop is occupied by a health food shop - perfect. 2016: Toni & Guy - oh, well.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Bruce Kenrick

Bruce Kenrick

W11, Blenheim Crescent, 115

Bruce Kenrick, 1920 - 2007, founder of Notting Hill Housing Trust and Shelter, lived and worked here from 1962 - 1982.

3 subjects commemorated
Gatti family

Gatti family

WC2, The Strand

There is an interesting memorial to the power supply just around the corner.

4 subjects commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

2i's coffee bar

2i's coffee bar

Birthplace of British rock 'n roll and the popular music industry. Mickie Most started as a singing waiter here. Owen Adams provides a huge amount of information.

Place, Community / Clubs, Food & Drink, Music / songs

1 memorial
Shanley Foundation

Shanley Foundation

From the website: "Shanly Foundation aims to support causes that help individuals and benefit the local community, including support for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, the homeless, t...

Group, Benefactor, Social Welfare

1 memorial