Remembering Euton Christian

Yesterday 60 family and friends along with residents of Chorlton came together to watch the Lord Mayor unveil a blue plaque to honour Euton Christian.

The family gather by the plaque

Mr. Christian was born in Jamaica, served in the RAF during the last World War, and was the first black person to be promoted to a managerial role in the Post Office, the first black magistrate, and the first to sit on a Crown Court bench. 

Mr. & Mrs. Christian

To this can be added his role as a founding member of the West Indian Sports and Social Club in Moss Side and Manchester Council for Community Relations in the 1960s.

Some will remember him as one of the Windrush generation, to others he was a keen sportsman, a neighbour and a father.

He was according to one source “an inspirational man who achieved many extraordinary things. He and his story give just one example of why we should celebrate the men and women who travelled on the Windrush, and the many subsequent ships, who settled and made lives in Britain during the middle part of the twentieth century”.*

Unveiling the plaque

The event began in the Lloyd’s Hotel with an informal gathering, moved on to Nicolas Road where the plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor and members of his family.

Friends spoke of Mr. Christian’s achievements set against the backdrop of prejudice earlier in the century, and the day finished back at the Lloyd’s where people remembered him.

It was a happy afternoon, where old friends met up and some of us made new friends.

And that I think Mr. Christian would have appreciated.

Roy Walters, the Lord Mayor, and Alderman Whit Stennent

Leaving me just to thank Stephen and the two Peter's who organized the blue plaque event, the Civic Society who oversees the Blue Plaque project, the Lord Mayor, and of course Mr. Christian's family some of whom travelled up from London.

Along with Nina, who gave permission for the plaque to be placed on house she now lives in, and lastly all the friends, and residents who joined together to honour Mr. Christian

The Lord Mayor meets some of the family

Meeting up

Family and friends

Sharing memories

Roy and Whit remembering Mr. Christian

Enjoying a joke

Location; the Lloyd’s Hotel and Nicolas Road

Watching the unveiling

Pictures; from the day, 2024 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

* The Windrush Generation – Euton Christian, Events, Manchester, Communities, Pastimes, archive & local history organisations at Manchester Central Library, https://manchesterarchiveplus.wordpress.com/2018/06/21/the-windrush-generation-euton-christian/