Photo gallery celebrates Jamaican arrivals in Leeds

Members of the Caribbean Cricket Club, formed by Jamaican ex-RAF servicemen in 1948, heading to a cricket match

An online gallery of newly-colourised photos showing people who came from Jamaica to Leeds has been launched.

The Jamaica Society Leeds' website features some of the first generation of islanders to come to the city from the 1940s onwards.

The Reverend Dorothy Stewart, of the society, said they were "a powerful way to remember and commemorate those we love from days gone by".

The Back to Life gallery features 40 of the colourised pictures.

Delores "Vi" Frances arrived in 1954 and is thought to have been the city’s first black female bus conductor

Charlie Dawkins volunteered for the RAF in 1944 and was a founder member of the Caribbean Cricket Club

Susan Pitter, the exhibition's curator, said: "Seeing how colour transforms black and white pictures, some which I have known for my entire life, is breathtaking.

"It makes the subjects closer to us and brings a memory to life."

The pictures had been collected for a Jamaica history project in 2019, called Eulogy, and 40 of those were then chosen to be colourised.

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Clarissa Sewell came from Jamaica in 1955. With husband Hugh she raised 11 children, some of them seen here with sister, Emily Hyde (right), and friend, Pat (back row, centre)

Daniel Warrenton Bloomfield came to Leeds in 1954. Known for his sharp suits he was a popular figure in Chapeltown and often called "Sunnyman"

Ms Pitter said Lee Goater's colour transformations were "as faithful as possible to skin tones, colour of outfits and surroundings".

Ms Stewart said she hoped the images would give people a boost during the uncertain times of the pandemic.

"At a time when the city's black communities - particularly our older members - are amongst those at highest risk of Covid-19 and are shielding, making these glorious colour images accessible is a great way to tackle loneliness and isolation."

Jamaica gained its independence from Britain on 6 August 1962.

An underage Hubert Glendore English joined the RAF in 1944. One of the first Jamaicans to settle in Leeds he became a draughtsman, activist, and received an MBE

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