The first black man to hold a senior public office in London is to be commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque.
Almost 100 years to the day, on November 10, 1913, John Richard Archer was elected mayor of Battersea by his fellow councillors, winning by a single vote, and thus becoming the first black man to hold a senior public role office in the capital.
In his acceptance speech, he said: “They will look at Battersea, and say ‘It is the greatest thing you have done. You have shown you have no racial prejudice, but recognise a man for what you think he has done’.”
Born in Liverpool June 1863, he was the son of a Barbadian ship’s steward and an Irishwoman.
After moving to Battersea with his wife Margaret in the early 1890s, Mr Archer had many different jobs. The 1901 census records he was a professional singer, and he may also have been a student of medicine.
Mr Archer died in 1932 in St James Hospital, Balham.
The plaque was set to be unveiled by the current mayor of Wandsworth Angela Graham on Wednesday at 55 Byrnmaer Road, Battersea, his home during the major milestones of his career.
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