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Charles Wotten: Liverpool race riot victim to get headstone

Feb 16,2020 8:40 am

A sailor who died after he was pursued by a white mob in one of the UK's worst outbreaks of racist violence is to have a permanent headstone on his grave.

Charles Wotten, also known as Wootton, died in Liverpool in 1919 and was buried in a pauper's grave.

The headstone will be officially unveiled at a ceremony in Anfield Cemetery at 14:00 BST.

It is The First of several memorials marking the contributions of Black People to The City .

The Event is the result of five years of fundraising and campaigning by the Liverpool Black History Research Group in collaboration with the Liverpool Enslaved Memorial Project.

Mr Wotten was buried in a Public Grave without a permanent headstone.

" We had to get Home Office permission for the headstone because Charles is in a Public Grave , " Laurence Westgaph, of the Liverpool Black History Research Group, said.

" We want to recognise Charles Wotten but also the Adult Education centre named after him in Liverpool 8 which became a hub for Liverpool's black community inspiring A Generation of young activists in The Fight for equality, " said Mr Westgaph.

Mr Westgaph, whose own grandmother had to flee the disturbances which claimed The Life of Mr Wotten, said: " People forget that Liverpool's black community was long established before Windrush. "

The Liverpool Museum of Slavery explained by the summer of 1919 tensions that had been rising for many months finally boiled over.

'Street brawls'

Servicemen returning from World War One found their jobs had either disappeared or were filled by lower paid women and immigrant workers.

On the evening of 5 June police raided a boarding house in Upper Pitt Street, home to mainly Caribbean and West African seafarers.

Mr Wotten, 24, a Bermudan ship's fireman, escaped The House and fled towards the docks, chased by police and The Mob .

It is not clear exactly What Happened but he was held by The Police and somehow ended up in the dock.

He tried to swim away, while The Mob pelted him bricks and stones, but he soon drowned.

The Coroner 's investigation would not give a clear verdict as to whether he had jumped or had been pushed.

A plaque in memory of Mr Wotten was unveiled on Liverpool's Waterfront in 2017.

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Source of news: bbc.com

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