Paterson Joseph - Film, TV & Theatre Actor, Playwright and Author

Saturday, 15th October 2022 - 5.30pm

The release of Paterson Joseph's book during British Black History month is highly fitting as he brings into sharp focus an extraordinary figure in our collective British history; Charles Ignatius Sancho, a man born and orphaned on a slave ship in 1729, who ultimately became a respected member of Georgian London high society - a writer, musician, businessman and the first man of African descent to vote in England.

 Mr Joseph began by describing his own experiences of growing up as a black child in 1970's Britain and how his mother had discouraged him from using her native St Lucian language, which left him questioning where he fitted in. Lacking in confidence, he sought sanctuary in books, spending many hours in the local library whilst bunking off school. Pointedly, the recent announcement of his appointment as chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and his track record performing with the RSC and National Theatre pays testament to the author's subsequent endeavours to gain in confidence and to surmount the cultural barriers he also faced in his life.

Charles Ignatius Sancho first came to his attention in 1999 whilst reading Gretchen Gerzina's book Black England (1995), when he became captivated by Thomas Gainsborough's rich portrait of the man in a 'gentlemanly posture' and his extraordinary story. 'Sancho: An Act of Remembrance' followed, a one-man play written by and starring Mr Joseph which he has now followed up with the 'The Secret Diaries'. Imagining the inner thoughts of his protagonist, Mr Joseph eloquently recited two evocative passages describing the plight of the transported slaves and his traumatic birth at sea, and his first meeting with the woman who would become his wife, Ann Osborne. 

Unfortunately, the allotted timescale for the talk over-ran and any audience members wishing to find out more about this fascinating historical character were left disappointed as there was no time for a Q&A at its conclusion. This brought a rather abrupt end to the proceedings which was unfortunate but possibly left the audience with an appetite to seek out more.