Billy Waters bicentenary 2023

Early day motion 856, tabled 9 February 2023 by Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour). Signed by 11 members.

That this House commemorates Billy Waters, the first African American popular performer to become celebrated in Britain, who died on 21 March 1823; notes that he enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1811 during the Napoleonic Wars, was promoted to petty officer, and lost a leg in an accident at sea; notes that he lived in London and started a family but his disabled war-veteran’s pension proved inadequate, and to survive he turned to busking on the street, which was deemed begging and illegal; further notes that wearing a large bicorn-hat with feathers and a judge’s wig, Billy Waters cut a flamboyant and mesmerizing figure, fiddling, singing and dancing with peculiar antics; notes that in his home neighbourhood, the St Giles Rookery, Billy was a well-loved community musician, and became a renowned London character, represented in images by leading Regency-era artists; further notes that in the stage production Tom and Jerry a former clown played the role Billy Waters as a bullying and ludicrous rogue; notes that this racist defamation led Billy to lose his good name, livelihood, and identity; further notes that he was arrested several times for busking, and died a pauper in the St Giles Workhouse; recognises Billy Waters as a British cultural pioneer, an inspiration for BAME, disabled and immigrant communities everywhere, and an early herald of the UK’s thriving Black performing arts community; and applauds the installation of a commemorative plaque on Dyott St where he and his family lived.

Signatures by party: Labour 5, Plaid Cymru 3, Scottish National Party 2, DUP 1.