An African Edwardian Lady,  Kathleen Easmon Simango’s 

Voice; From Ballads To The BBC, The Story of The First Black Woman to Broadcast for the BBC, is my forthcoming book due out in June 2024

l A.  I am Adenike F Olunkoya previously Adenike Ogunkoya a UK based historian, BA (Hons), MA Research, Member Royal Historical Society. (See my ABOUT  page re the change of name).

l B.  Via my own agency Adenhist a functioning consultancy, I am a lecturer, writer, consultant, academic consultant, cultural historian and researcher including occasionally for the African Origins Project of Emory University, Department of History, Atlanta, Georgia. My email address is Adenhist@outlook.com Please note that Adenhist is a functioning consultancy and a business.

My special areas of research and interest include

l C.  The Creoles/Krios of Freetown and their Diaspora in West Africa and the Western Hemisphere.

My research and studies into Modern African History from the late 17^th Century and Modern European history from 1500 especially the 18^th and 19^th Centuries has led to my research focus on the Creole/Krio of Freetown, descendants of the “Black Poor” of Britain, enslaved people and Liberated Slaves (re-captives) most especially the women but not exclusively so. I am committed to telling their story including in Britain where their English names have led to secret, hidden and niche histories.  I have researched into their education, religion, politics, social history and their direct and indirect links with Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian and post-First World War Britain. My research has highlighted the growing number of men and women from British West Africa including Creoles who were part of Victorian and Edwardian society in Britain and their links with quasi-political organisations, black nationalism, Pan-Africanism, the black literati etc.

l G.  FURTHER RESEARCH AND INTEREST INCLUDE

1. The Five Smith Sisters of Sierra Leone

2. Victoria Davies Randle, Queen Victoria's Goddaughter

3. Aku/Krio; A Fusion of Yoruba and Creole society

4. Black women in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian Britain

5. Social history of Creole women

6. History of Women’s Education in  West Africa, History of Women’s Education in Britain

7. Pioneering Women in the Professions in British West Africa

8. Niche histories relating to pioneering black African, black British and British women in nursing and medicine from 1890-1935 and their role in the First World War and the suffragette/suffragist movement and Early Feminism amongst Creole women.

9. In-depth research & studies in British Women's History 1845-1950, covering education, nursing, the suffragette movement, and feminism side by side with Creole Women's History. This involves comparing and contrasting with other identities of British women e.g. African women from British West Africa during the Victorian, Edwardian and pre-independence era. I have been able to make comparisons with the emergence of women’s education in Britain and women’s education in British West Africa, a system that West African women benefited from and contributed to in Africa and the Diaspora. My research has also highlighted the dependency of West African women including Creole women and women from other ethnic groups on the British system of education and training for women within West Africa and Britain itself e.g in the field of nursing and education itself.

10. Involvement in the Igbo Diaspora Project

11. The genealogy of Creole families in Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and the Diaspora

12. Mixed-race dynasties in British West Africa some of whom were Creole

13. The study of slavery in Brazil and the Agudas

14. Returnee Brazilians of Lagos including their inter-marriage with Creoles

l H.  DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

Using my qualification and knowledge in Development Economics combined with History, I am looking into the educational standards and ethos, the judicial system, the means of communication, the transport system and health resources available to the trade union members, middle-class and bourgeoisie African-Brazilian in 19^th Century and 20^th Century Brazil circa 1875-1935  within their own communities and a wider Brazilian society and an emerging 2^nd World economy.

l I.  The research into the Creoles and other aspects of African history has led to the discovery of

NICHE HISTORIES IN BLACK BRITISH HISTORY

E.g.  Visiting blacks at stately homes and country houses in Britain in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries including an African Philanthropic Horseman in Victorian Salisbury, Wiltshire. One of the issues of today is that of the history of country houses and stately homes. I have been collating information on African dignitaries at country homes and stately homes in Britain  during the Victorian and Edwardian era instead of on black servants which has been the main focus by most historians.

l J.  I HAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALMOST EVERY LOCAL AUTHORITY REGION IN BRITAIN, NICHE HISTORIES OF

Black Women in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian Britain in counties all over Britain including Wiltshire, Sussex, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Berkshire etc.

Black Men in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian Britain Wiltshire, Sussex, Leeds, Yorkshire, Warwickshire etc

Black Knights in Victorian Britain, knighted by Queen Victoria.

l K.  I WORK WITH HERITAGE ORGANISATIONS

l L.  The link below is on the mixed-race William Smith Jr of St Helier, Jersey in the Channel Islands. This was done via my agency Adenhist for the Jersey Heritage’s Trust, Jersey Peace Trail 2016.

William Smith Jr 1816-1896, born at Cape Coast in what is modern day Ghana to a Yorkshire man William Smith Sr who took a Fanti Chief’s daughter as a wife. William Smith Jr moved to Freetown, Sierra Leone where he rose to become Judge of the Mixed Commissions Court. In 1872 he moved to Britain and lived on the Isle of Jersey. While in Jersey he continued his community activities which involved being a lay preacher of the Methodist faith and being on the founding committee of Jersey Ladies College, now Jersey College for Girls. He spent the rest of his days in Jersey.

Click on the link below, scroll down until you get to an image of a Methodist church and a mixed race man next to it, click on it and a young girl will give a short talk.

https://www.jerseyheritage.org/walks-trails-and-tours/jersey-peace-trail

I have also worked with Jersey Heritage Trust on their 2019 “People Make Jersey” project covering Blacks in Victorian and Edwardian Jersey.

l M.  Adenhist Historical Information, Research & Supplies. Adenhist@outlook.com Please note that Adenhist is a functioning consultancy and a business.

In addition, I supply TV Companies, Film Production Companies, production companies’ information for documentaries as well as authors and information for factual and fictional black period dramas etc.

l N.  FURTHER AREAS Of RESEARCH AND INTEREST

Women In Victorian Britain

1. Social History of Women in Victorian Britain,

2. Currently working on bourgeoisie women in Victorian Britain and their carriages,

3. I am also working on a 19^th Century Perfume House on the Isle of Jersey.

I speak English, Yoruba and basic French. Hopefully, I will soon be adding Portuguese to the list.

l O.  Contact: Adenhist@outlook.com Please note that Adenhist is a functioning consultancy and a business.

Twitter @NikeOgunkoya

Linkedin Adenike Ogunkoya