ABOUT & BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
- I am Adenike Olunkoya previously Adenike Ogunkoya BA (Hons) MA Research, Member Royal Historical Society. I changed one letter in my surname, and I am no longer named after a deity. Olunkoya is possible in Yoruba orthology, ideally with an apostrophe after the n.
- I was born in London to Nigerian parents and my family lived in our small Georgian house in South West London off Clapham Road. As these were my very early years, I have no memory of my stay there. My second home was also my parents home in Brockley Conservation Area, South East London, where I lived with my 3 siblings, an older sister and 2 younger brothers. With Hilly Fields Park bordered by Ladywell Village at one end, the picturesque St Peter’s Church in the middle, at the other end Upper Brockley Road, the wide, tree lined avenues and roads, Brockley, though not as village like as Dulwich Village or Blackheath in layout is “A slice of the country within London” and historically part of Kent. My mother had been an elementary school teacher in Nigeria. She re-trained as a secretary in London and was about to start reading law when she passed on aged 32. My father studied medicine, specialising in internal medicine and became a physician, MB. MD. I attended Lucas Vale Junior School and Myatt Garden Junior School. I enjoyed both schools thoroughly. There was no rivalry. One was built because of the other. Lucas Vale was built in the Victorian era and Myatt Gardens was built in 1971 to cope with the numbers expected to get into Lucas Vale. I was a member of the Brownies; 12 South Deptford Division.
- I left for Nigeria aged 10 after being exposed mainly to British history, Henry VIII, St George and the Dragon, etc. I returned to England aged 17. Of my childhood to the end of my adolescence, aged 18, I had spent 11 years in Britain and 7 in Nigeria. I would liked to have spent a few more years perhaps in another part of Nigeria or West Africa. While in Nigeria, I lived and schooled in 3 parts of Western Nigeria. I spoke Yoruba and amongst other schools I attended a Carmelite convent school for girls, founded by the French and run by Irish nuns and have had an interest in convent schools since then. At almost every institution that I have belonged to, I have gravitated towards the choir. When I was at the convent school, the nuns placed me in the choir as a Mezzo-Soprano.
- While in Africa, I studied African History going back to the 17th century or earlier, the Songhai, Mali and Oyo empires, the Slave Trade, Nationalism, and other aspects of African and Yoruba history and European history as well. However, I was also fascinated by the study of the Carthaginian Empire, Phoenicia and Mesopotamia. My living in 3 parts of Western Nigeria including holidays in rural areas to see my grandmother, exposed me to more Yoruba language and culture. Furthermore, living and holidaying in cosmopolitan towns, cities and villages meant a blending with other groups from Nigeria and West Africa and picking up aspects of each other’s languages and exposure to names from Ghana, Sierra Leone etc. I was exposed to the best of African literature and poetry both taught and read of my own will, Camara Laye, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi and others.
- At age 17 and for my ‘O’ and ‘A’ Levels I attended an international school for girls in Shropshire, England for two and a half years located at a National Trust property. At the school in Shropshire I studied Pride and Prejudice for the 2nd and 3rd time for my ‘O’ & ‘A’ Levels. A more appropriately suggestive location is hard to think of. Holidays were spent in Lagos or at a friend’s flat in Collingham Gardens, and at comfortable convent run accommodation for female students also in Kensington & Chelsea, the latter behind Kensington High Street where I spent one half-term (once a convent girl). Additionally I visited relatives in South London.
- I do not claim to be comparable to any of the black dignitaries at stately homes I have done research on but I have included a group picture of the girls’ school that includes me as a student at a National Trust property in Shropshire, standing next to the pillar. When this section of the school merged with the boy’s school also in a stately home in Shropshire but not owned by the National Trust, it was on the grounds of which part of has been declared a National Heritage site. This and other aspects of the county makes me believe that when you live in Shropshire you live in history. My email address is Adenhist@outlook.com Please note that Adenhist is a functioning consultancy and a business.
l G Before our history tutor ventured into conventional history lessons, she embarked on the social history of Britain which I have never lost interest in and was to encounter at all levels of historical study.
l H After my ‘A’ Levels and in a quest for independence, I studied and gained qualifications in Development Economics regarding the 2nd & 3rd World, with strong historical content on Brazil for example and a course in Sociology and Social Issues both at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. I added to that a short Business Studies Course at what used to be Thames Polytechnic and began work in admin & calculating and processing payments for a bank, admin and marketing for a utilities/energy company, admin & property referencing including inspections for local government and in full administrative & research duties for the civil service in permanent positions or on contract respectively.
l I In my spare time while not yet a historian, I did some research on my old family home in Brockley.
l J At some stage I moved to North London where most of my activities were, including work.
l K In my 30’s and while in public service, I pulled out a rusty ‘A’ Level and I read Modern European History from 1500-1950 at Birkbeck College (my home college) and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Concerned about my African heritage and desiring more knowledge in that area of History as part of my degree I enrolled for two years of intercollegiate courses in African History from 1830-1960 at SOAS, which included the history of the Creoles/Krios of Sierra Leone. After my degree, I reached the level of Executive Officer in the civil service as an Administrator/Educational Researcher.
l L I have an MA in Research; Africa and Africans in The Diaspora. The Dissertation in which I gained a Distinction was “Angels of the West Coast; From Settlers to SRN’s: the History of Modern Nursing in British West Africa 1787-1925”. This will be followed by a book with the same title. My email address is Adenhist@outlook.com Please note that Adenhist is a functioning consultancy and a business.
l M I am currently a lecturer, writer, consultant, academic consultant, cultural historian and researcher.
l N I am tri-lingual in English, Yoruba and basic French
l O I am a Member of the Royal Historical Society, Women’s History Network and The Biographer’s Club.
l P My hobbies include collecting ceramics and other antiques, reading including 19th century English literature classics, singing and basic embroidery. I love travelling when I can. My favourite city is Milan.
My email address is Adenhist@outlook.com Please note that Adenhist is a functioning consultancy and a business.
