Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations

Peter Dench speaks to Jim Grover about his moving photo-reportage exploring how the generations that followed the original Windrush generation are living their lives in the UK today

After nearly a month at sea, on 12 June1948, the British troopship HMT Empire Windrush anchored on a misty River Thames at Tilbury Docks, Essex. On board were 1,027 passengers and two stowaways.

More than 800 of those passengers gave their last place of residence as being the Caribbean. Many were anxious, believing a command would come for the ship to turn back. As they disembarked the following day, the mood was celebratory. Among those hoping for a new life in the United Kingdom was a future Mayor of Southwark, Sam King, who had served with the wartime RAF. His family had reportedly sold three cows to buy his ticket, which cost £28 10s, upwards of £600 today.

Another passenger looking to build life thousands of miles from home was Alford Gardner. Born in Jamaica in 1926, Gardner is one of only two known adult passengers alive today who travelled on the Windrush. He served as an engineer and motor mechanic during World War II before he demobbed and sailed back to Jamaica. Finding it difficult to settle, he felt his future was in the UK. Borrowing money from his father, he bought a ticket to travel with his older brother on the Windrush. Gardner finally settled in Leeds. Seventy years later, at the last count, he had 21 great-grandchildren and no regrets about his decision to move to the UK.

Photographer Jim Grover first met Gardner when he photographed and interviewed him for his 2018 1 reportage Windrush: Portrait of a Generation, which portrays the lives and traditions of the first generation of Caribbean migrants.

We are reintroduced to Gardner in Windrush: A Voyage Through the Generations, a new photography exhibition and book by Grover to mark the 75th anniversary of Windrush's arrival. The challenge for Grover was to deliver something new. 'I didn't want to just go back and focus on the first generation. All their stories are very moving and inspiring but I feel I've been there.