Journey to Harewood

In 1893, at the age of just 13, George ‘Bertie’ Robinson, became the first known Black member of staff to enter service at Harewood House.

Born on the island of St Vincent, in 1879, Bertie was taken into the employment of the 5th Earl and Countess whilst they were visiting the Caribbean to to visit the four plantations they owned in Barbados.

The 5th Earl and Countess sailed around to other islands in the Caribbean during this trip, where they visited tourist destinations and landmarks.

Legacy of slavery and colonialism

The exact circumstances of the arrangement are unknown, but letting Bertie return to England with the Lascelles family must have been a very difficult decision for his family, and one reflecting the hardships faced by those living with the legacy of slavery and colonialism in the Caribbean in the 19th century.

Although its indigenous population fiercely resisted settlement until the 18th century, St Vincent was eventually colonised by Europeans. Enslaved Africans were transported to the island and forced to work on sugar cane plantations under brutal conditions to produce goods such as sugar, coffee, tobacco, indigo and arrowroot.

The British had started to bring enslaved Africans to St. Vincent in 1771, and by 1807 over 57,000 individuals had been brought to the island.

By 1827 St. Vincent was the second largest producer of sugar in the British Caribbean.

It is almost certain that Bertie’s Grandparents would have been enslaved.

Employment by the Lascelles family

Following the emancipation of enslaved people in the 1830s, many British plantation owners took their compensation and left the Caribbean. This created severe economic decline and widespread poverty across the region. 

Bertie’s employment by the Lascelles family would have offered him a regular income, not only promising a more secure future for Bertie, but also his family in St Vincent. 

Nevertheless, it must have been a frightening experience for a young person to travel to England with strangers. 

Bertie was employed by the Lascelles family for almost 30 years. He served as a footman at both Harewood House and the family’s London residence on Upper Belgrave Street, becoming a trusted and well-regarded member of the household.

As a footman, Bertie’s duties at Harewood would have included serving dinner, attending to the needs of the family and any guests, and accompanying the family whilst travelling. He may also have cleaned boots, polished the silverware and carried coal for the house’s many fireplaces.

Like other servants, Bertie’s days would have been long, with very little time off. We do not know how much Bertie was paid, but records show that Harewood’s footmen of the late-19th century earned approximately £15 a year (about £2000 today). Part of Bertie’s wage was used to support his family in St Vincent.

In 1906, Bertie travelled with the Lascelles family to the Caribbean, who once again visited their estates. Although the intention was most likely to return him permanently to St Vincent, Bertie had other ideas. He travelled back to the UK on his own initiative, making the crossing on a Royal Mail ship having requested money for his passage from missionaries. Once back at Harewood, Bertie resumed his position as footman.

On 18th July 1922, after almost 30 years of service, Bertie’s employment with the Lascelles family came to an abrupt end. He was dismissed at the family’s London residence, following his theft of a £50 note belonging to the Earl of Harewood.

There is no surviving account of the incident in Bertie’s own words, but the circumstances as recorded by the Lascelles family are fraught with racial prejudice.

The theft was discovered after Bertie changed the £50 note for cash – worth almost £3000 in today’s money – at a public house; the colour of his skin immediately raised suspicions that he was not the legitimate owner of such a large sum.

Bertie confessed to the theft and explained that he needed the money to support a woman who had given birth to his child. Usually in this situation the father would have been encouraged to marry the woman and support the child but hostility towards inter-racial relationships at this time meant that this would not have been considered an option.

This left the 5th Earl with a choice. On the one hand he could turn a blind eye in recognition of Bertie’s years of loyal service. On the other he could have had him arrested. He chose a third way and gave Bertie 48 hours to leave the country; he sailed to Trinidad less than two weeks later.

Bertie Robinson Wray

Nothing more about Bertie’s life is known but remarkably, during the research process for this exhibition, his son’s story came to light.

Prompted by a visit to Harewood, and family history research by his daughter, we now know that Bertie Robinson Wray was born on 11 July 1921.

He was born at Ribston Hall, near Knaresborough, where his mother, Elizabeth Wray, was employed as a domestic servant.

The Lascelles family had close connections to Ribston, owning significant estates nearby (as well as the property itself at one time), and were on visiting terms with the Hall’s incumbent family, the Dents.

As it would have been Bertie’s responsibility as a footman to accompany the Lascelles family when visiting acquaintances, it is likely that he met Elizabeth whilst on duty.

Bertie Robinson Wray was informally adopted at a young age and would have been one year old when his father left for Trinidad. He grew up knowing very little about his parents.

Hannah Obee, Former Director of Collections, Programming and Learning said in an interview with Chris Bond from the Yorkshire Post

“When you start unpicking Bertie’s story you understand how racism works. There are so many different layers and it affects so many lives. If he hadn’t been Black there probably would have been a very different outcome to this story.

Instead, he doesn’t get to know his son, and his son doesn’t get to know either of his parents and you have a family today trying to uncover their history.”

Bertie went on to serve in the RAF during the Second World War and have a family of his own.

Bertie’s family still live in Yorkshire and, as a result of this exhibition, they hope to find out more about their Grandfather’s life after leaving Harewood, as well as their ancestors from St Vincent.

With thanks

Harewood House Trust would like to thank the members of the DSRG for their support and contributions to this exhibition. We are very grateful to the Wray family for allowing us to share their story.