Fitting In: Windrush and its Legacy in High Wycombe
From the 1950s people from the Caribbean Island of St Vincent came to High Wycombe. Early Vincentanians were sent by the Home Office, but more followed to join family, and to work in the local chair-making trades. Many settled and saved up to bring their children to...
Brian McBarnett
Brian arrived in England on 2nd November 1967, aged ten. I didn’t want to come because of the friends I left behind. Families like the Crichton’s who owned the village shop… It took two days to get to England. Three of us children travelled here together:...
Sharleen Williams
Sharleen was born in England in 1958 to Caribbean parents. Her mother was from Jamaica and her father was from St Vincent. They met in New Cross, London in her grandmother’s boarding house and Sharleen was born in Greenwich. The family moved to High Wycombe in 1960....
Steve Cork
Steve was born to a white English mother from High Wycombe and an Afro-Caribbean father from St Vincent. As a mixed couple, Steve’s parents found neither culture would readily accept them. Racism, fear and ignorance made their lives difficult and finding a place to...
