Written in the Records: Primary Schools Uncover Black History in Putney

Exploring historical narratives: "Written in the Records" exhibition highlighting Black presence in Putney's past.

For six remarkable days in October 2025, St. Mary's Church in Putney became a place where history spoke with a new voice. Primary school children created over 60 portraits of Black residents who lived in Putney 400 years ago—people whose lives were documented in parish records but forgotten by history books.

"Written in the Records: Black Presence in Putney's Past" unveiled 130 years of forgotten lives—17 documented Black residents who lived, worked, married and raised families in this riverside village between the 1620s and 1750s. This was not just an exhibition. It was an act of historical restoration, powered by primary school children who understood something profound: that everyone deserves to be remembered with dignity.

Black History Putney: The Discovery That Started Everything

Parish record from 1714 showing the baptism of Mary Russel, marking the first entry in the book.

The evidence had been sitting in St. Mary's parish records for centuries. Baptism registers noting "a blake at Mr John Turner's". Marriage certificates recording "two blacks" exchanging vows. Burial records documenting servants in great houses. Poor relief accounts showing payments to "Black Joan" for preparing the dead.

These were not isolated entries. They formed patterns—families across generations, workers integrated into parish life, couples building lives together. The Russel family baptising their children. Robertt Catharick and Mary Ember marrying in 1687. Joan receiving payment for her skilled work washing and preparing corpses. The Cuffee family network spanning three decades, including George Cuffee, a Black youth buried in 1752.

More Curricular CIC uncovered these records whilst researching Putney's hidden histories, and immediately recognised their significance. Here was documentary proof that challenged assumptions about who belonged in Stuart England, evidence that Black residents were living integrated lives in a small village outside London throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.

The question was: how do you bring 400-year-old parish records to life in a way that restores dignity to people reduced to racial descriptors in administrative documents?

The answer came through art.

The Exhibition: Bringing 400 Years of History to Life

"Written in the Records" ran from 24th-29th October in the Cromwell Room at St. Mary's Church. The room takes its name from the historic Putney Debates that took place at St. Mary's Church from 28th October to 8th November 1647, when soldiers of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army gathered to debate the future of England's governance. It felt fitting that this space, connected to debates about who has voice and power, should host an exhibition about residents whose voices were largely excluded from historical narratives.

The exhibition combined original historical evidence with contemporary artistic response. Large-format displays presented the parish records—baptism registers, marriage certificates, burial records and poor relief accounts—that documented Black presence in Putney across 130 years. Visitors could see the actual entries recording Joan's payments for washing corpses in the 1620s, the marriage of Robertt Catharick and Mary Ember in 1687 and the baptism and burial of George Cuffee in the 18th century.

Alongside these historical documents, over 60 student artworks filled the space. Some pieces from each school were displayed on easels, allowing visitors to examine the artwork up close. Additional pieces were collected in binders that visitors could browse through, seeing the full range of student responses to these historical lives.

Visitors viewed the portraits knowing they were in the same parish where these residents lived their lives, were baptised, married and buried across the 17th and 18th centuries.

Three Schools, Three Approaches

More Curricular approached three local primary schools with an ambitious proposal: research these historical residents, learn about Stuart-era portrait conventions and create artwork that reimagines these individuals with the dignity history denied them. The schools' responses exceeded all expectations, with three distinct artistic approaches that together tell a powerful story about Black British history, visibility and dignity.

Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School: 51 Drawings of Bold Presence

Children's artwork pays tribute to George Cuffee, a Black youth who died in 1752.

Holy Ghost School created 51 vibrant drawings of Stuart-era Black residents that refuse to let historical figures remain invisible or diminished. Across all 51 drawings, students researched their chosen individuals carefully, reading parish records, learning about 17th-century clothing conventions and considering what symbols would tell each person's story. They drew them with the strength and presence these residents always deserved.

Some students made a particularly striking creative choice. Those drawing George Cuffee, a Black youth who died in 1752, used contemporary artist and musician Stormzy as their artistic inspiration. The Stormzy-inspired drawings of George Cuffee were particularly striking: bold colours that demand attention, direct gazes that meet viewers eye-to-eye, historically accurate Stuart-era clothing combined with modern artistic confidence that centres personality and humanity.

Some of the Holy Ghost drawings were displayed on easels at the exhibition, whilst others were collected in a binder that visitors could browse through. Walking through these drawings felt like meeting a community that had been waiting centuries to be properly introduced. Joan with the dignity of skilled labour. Edward Dedford with the preciousness of a short life. The Russel family united despite tragedy. The Stormzy-inspired drawings of George Cuffee stood out with their direct gazes, capturing the quiet strength of faith and the political significance of simply being.

St. Mary's Church of England Primary School, Battersea: Historical Accuracy Meets Creative Vision

Painting titled "I am Mary" by Mia, Year 5, from St Mary's RC Primary School Battersea.

St. Mary's Battersea approached the project with meticulous attention to Stuart-era portrait conventions. Students learned about allegorical elements—symbolic objects, clothing details and backgrounds that told stories without words—then applied these techniques to reimagine Putney's Black residents. They created six stunning portraits.

Their portraits demonstrated serious historical research. Clothing in historically accurate browns, greys and russets. Allegorical symbols carefully chosen: churches representing community belonging, flowers symbolising precious lives, keys showing household responsibility, joined hands depicting marriage.

One particularly moving portrait showed Mary Russel, with flowers representing her precious but brief life (she died at age 14). Another depicted Seppeo, a servant at Sir John Grosvenor's household who died in 1735. Religious symbols acknowledged their faith whilst churches in the backgrounds placed them firmly in St. Mary's community. Every element had been researched and chosen deliberately.

St. Mary's Church of England Primary School, Putney: Silhouettes

St. Mary's Putney contributed a silhouette piece exploring questions of visibility and historical absence.

Why Stormzy? Understanding the Connection

The decision by some Holy Ghost students to use Stormzy as artistic inspiration for George Cuffee portraits was not arbitrary—it was culturally significant and deeply thoughtful.

Stormzy represents a particular moment in Black British cultural history: unapologetic visibility, mainstream success without compromise and pride in Black British identity. When he headlined Glastonbury in 2019, he did not just perform—he made a statement about Black British presence, power and cultural contribution. His scholarship fund for Black students, his activism and his artistic boldness all centre Black British experience without apology.

What made the students' approach particularly insightful was how they understood the parallels between Stormzy and George Cuffee. The students who drew George asked a transformative question: how would this young man present himself if he could control his own image? What if George could be portrayed with the same confidence and bold presence that Stormzy brings to his own artistic representation?

They discovered parallels between George's world and Stormzy's values. Students recognised that George would have been part of a religious community—baptised, confirmed and buried through St. Mary's Church—just as Stormzy is open about his Christian faith. They also understood that as a young Black person in 18th-century England, George's very existence was political, much like Stormzy's activism and his use of his platform to speak about race, education and justice. This was not just artistic inspiration—it was students recognising shared threads of faith and the political reality of Black presence across four centuries.

By channelling Stormzy's energy into portraits of George Cuffee, the students created a visual argument: the confidence and pride that Stormzy represents is not new. It is reclaiming something that was always there but was diminished by historical records that reduced people to racial descriptors.

The portraits say: these Stuart-era residents deserve to be seen with the same boldness, dignity and cultural power that we give to Stormzy. They were not background figures or historical curiosities. They were people living full lives—people of faith, people whose existence was political—and they deserve portraits that reflect their full humanity.

This approach also speaks to young people today, particularly young Black students, showing them that their history does not begin with Windrush or even with abolition. It stretches back centuries. Black British presence has deep roots, and those roots deserve to be honoured with the same cultural confidence that contemporary Black British artists embody.

The Stormzy-inspired approach connects contemporary Black British cultural confidence with historical Black presence, showing continuity across four centuries. These were not isolated historical anomalies—they were part of an ongoing story of Black British life that extends from the 1620s through to Stormzy performing at Glastonbury. The portraits insist: Black British history is not recent. Black British presence is not new. It has been here for centuries, and it deserves to be seen with the same boldness and respect we give to contemporary Black British artists.

Community Response

Visitors engage with artwork at the Written in Records exhibition.

The response was overwhelming.

Visitors rated the exhibition "very good", with many noting they came specifically to learn about a new culture, tradition or artform. The feedback surveys revealed the exhibition's impact: people found it "uplifting and interesting", "very encouraging to see children's artwork", "interesting and enlightening" and appreciated how it made them "think about those who may not have been as lucky as we are today".

One visitor who came to the church service and viewed the exhibition wrote about being "reinforced" in their "knowledge and respect for our presence in London in they times". Another noted it made them "more aware of how different things were". Others praised the exhibition as "an excellent and absorbing flavour" and "nice that the exhibition has an ecumenical flavour".

Children from Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School and St. Mary's Church of England Primary School Battersea visited with their parents and families, sharing photos of their work with other parents.

Local residents came, many surprised to learn about Black presence in Putney centuries before they had assumed such communities existed.

The Black History Month service on Sunday 26th October provided particular poignancy. Reverend Sharon spoke about remembering all members of the community across centuries, acknowledging those whose contributions have been overlooked and committing to ensuring their stories remain visible.

The People Who Made It Possible

Members of the More Curricular CIC team and Wandsworth Council.

Exhibitions do not happen without extraordinary support from countless individuals who believe in the project's importance.

Reverend Sharon, Reverend Kieron Rowley & Reverend John Whittaker, at St. Mary's Church welcomed More Curricular with open enthusiasm, immediately grasping the significance of bringing these parish records to public attention. They facilitated access to the Cromwell Room, helped navigate logistics and ensured the exhibition felt genuinely integrated into the church's ongoing life rather than imposed from outside. They also incorporated the exhibition into the Black History Month service, ensuring these historical residents were acknowledged as part of St. Mary's continuing community across centuries.

Issa Cissokho and the team at Putney Pantry café provided essential practical support. The café serves as the main entrance to the church, and throughout the exhibition week, staff welcomed visitors, directed them to the exhibition spaces and created a warm, hospitable atmosphere that encouraged people to linger and engage with the artwork.

The headteachers, teachers and students at Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School, St. Mary's Church of England Primary School Battersea and St. Mary's Church of England Primary School Putney—all schools within Wandsworth borough—demonstrated extraordinary commitment. Teachers integrated the project into their curriculum across multiple subjects—history, art, English and RE. Students approached the research with seriousness and the creative work with both imagination and respect.

Danielle, Sara and all the team at Wandsworth Council who made this project possibe by accepting the proposal and awarding the grant funding that enabled More Curricular CIC to work with three schools and bring this hidden history to light.

This collaboration between schools and community heritage projects reflects the spirit of cultural engagement that Wandsworth Borough of Culture celebrates, bringing hidden histories to light through creative education and community participation.

What the Exhibition Achieved

"Written in the Records" accomplished something rare: it changed how a community understands its own past.

For decades, standard narratives about Putney have emphasised the Putney Debates, its riverside location and its connections to famous figures like Thomas Cromwell. Black history in the area, when mentioned at all, has been assumed to begin much later—perhaps the 20th century, perhaps the Windrush generation.

This exhibition provided documentary proof that Black residents were integrated into Putney life throughout the Stuart period. Not as anomalies. Not as curiosities. As workers—some of whom may have been bonded to their employers in a form of enslavement—family members, parish relief recipients and community members whose baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded in the same registers as their white neighbours.

It challenged the assumption that "Black British history" is a recent phenomenon, showing instead that diverse communities have been part of British life for centuries. The evidence was always there in parish records. It simply was not being looked for, read properly or centred in local histories.

Perhaps most importantly, the exhibition demonstrated how creative projects can restore dignity where historical records reduced people to racial descriptors. The parish clerks in the 1600s and 1700s noted that Joan was "black", that Edward Dedford was "a blake", that Robertt and Mary were "two blacks". These descriptions tell us how the record-keepers saw them—as notable primarily for their race.

The student portraits tell a different story. They centre personality, relationships, work, faith and community belonging. They ask: who were these people beyond how they looked? What mattered to them? How should we remember them?

The Legacy: Art Becomes History

Following the exhibition, all student artwork has been donated to Wandsworth Archive where it becomes part of the permanent historical record. This creates a remarkable full circle: parish clerks in the 1600s-1700s documented these residents in official records, and in 2025, primary school students created a new historical record that centres dignity and full humanity.

Wandsworth Council has recognised the significance of this work by commissioning an online exhibition, ensuring these portraits and the histories they honour remain accessible to audiences far beyond those who visited St. Mary's Church during that remarkable October week.

In decades and centuries to come, researchers examining Putney's history will find both the original parish entries and the 21st-century artistic responses. They will see how More Curricular and three primary schools in 2025 grappled with evidence of Black presence in Stuart Putney, how they chose to respond with art that restored dignity and how this project itself became part of the area's historical narrative.

The students who created this work will carry these experiences with them. They have learned that history is about ordinary people whose lives matter. They have learned that historical research can be creative and meaningful. They have learned that sometimes the most important historical work is ensuring forgotten people are remembered with dignity.

About More Curricular CIC

More Curricular is a community interest company dedicated to uncovering and celebrating hidden histories, with a particular focus on marginalised communities whose stories have been excluded from traditional historical narratives. Through heritage walks, educational projects and community partnerships, More Curricular works to make history more inclusive, accessible and dignified.

Learn more at www.morecurricular.co.uk/communityinterest