Black History Month 2026

October is Black History Month. This year, instead of national statistics, we're telling four stories that belong to Northamptonshire — a boy servant who became Gretton's hero, a footballer who signed for Northampton, an Olympic sprinter from Wellingborough, and the man who became Wellingborough's first Black mayor.

Ask most people to name a famous Black figure from this county and they'll struggle. That's not because there aren't any. It's because the stories were never told loudly enough. So this month, across Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and Rushden, we're telling four of them.

James Chappell, c.1648–1730 — Kirby Hall and Gretton

Kirby Hall sits four miles from Corby town centre. In the 1660s a boy of about 15 joined the household of Sir Christopher Hatton there as a servant. His baptism record describes him as a Black boy, servant to Lord Hatton. His name was James Chappell.

In 1670 Hatton was made governor of Guernsey, and Chappell went with him. On 30 December 1672, lightning struck the gunpowder store at Castle Cornet. The blast killed Hatton's wife and his mother. Chappell dug Hatton out of the rubble and carried him on his back to safety, then went back in and found the three little girls alive — the youngest three weeks old.

Hatton never forgot it. His will left Chappell £20 a year for life, serious money for the time. Chappell settled in Gretton, married, and raised a family there. His daughter Elizabeth was baptised in the village in 1676. Local tradition says he kept the Hatton Arms. In 1727, aged about 82, he told the story of that night himself.

No portrait of him survives. In 2021 English Heritage commissioned the artist Glory Samjolly to paint one, and it now hangs at Kirby Hall. It is an imagined likeness — but the man was real, and he was ours.

Walter Tull, 1888–1918 — Northampton

On 17 October 1911, Walter Tull signed for Northampton Town. He went on to play more than 100 games for the Cobblers under Herbert Chapman — one of English football's first Black professional players. When war came he joined up alongside his team-mates and became one of the British Army's first Black officers, leading his men in France. He was killed in action in March 1918, aged 29. His body was never found.

Northampton is over the border in West Northamptonshire, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. But his story belongs to this county, and we'll mark the anniversary of his signing on 17 October.

Anita Neil MBE, born 1950 — Wellingborough

On 20 October 1968, an 18-year-old from Wellingborough ran the first leg of the Olympic 4×100m relay final in Mexico City. Anita Neil was the first Black woman to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.

She had no coach. She trained in her spare time around a job as a machinist in a clothing factory, and relied on collections to get to competitions. She still won: bronze in both the 100m and the relay at the 1969 European Championships, the national 100m title in 1970, Commonwealth relay silver the same year, and a second Olympics at Munich in 1972. Then, at 23, the money ran out and she stopped.

It took a long time for the country to notice what she'd done. In 2022 Wellingborough made her its first Honorary Freewoman. In 2024 she was appointed MBE for services to athletics. She still lives in the town.

Michael Prescod MBE, 1938–2010 — Wellingborough

Michael Prescod was born in Barbados in 1938, came to Britain at 19, served in the army and worked as a social worker before he made Wellingborough his home in 1976.

What he built there is still standing. In 1980 he founded the Wellingborough African Caribbean Association, which runs to this day, and he helped set up the Victoria Centre. He was elected a councillor in 1995 and served for 15 years. In 1998 he became Wellingborough's first Black mayor. In 2001 he was appointed MBE for services to the community. He died in 2010, and Prescod Close, off Irthlingborough Road, carries his name.

And more

There are others. Kemi Olusanya — Kemistry — grew up in Kettering and went on to help found Goldie's Metalheadz label and change drum and bass. Trevor Benjamin, born in Kettering and raised in Wellingborough, played for more league clubs than anyone in English football. Rory McLeod, born in Wellingborough, was the first Black player to qualify for the World Snooker Championship. And in 2022 Taffy Chikoto became Corby's first Black mayor.

But the bigger story in North Northamptonshire isn't famous names. It's the people who built things: the Wellingborough African Caribbean Association, the Saturday schools, the Northamptonshire Black History Association's oral history work, the Racial Equality Council. That's the history most of us never learned, and it's the one worth telling.

Follow along this month

Our branches will share one story a week on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Threads: James Chappell on 12 October, Walter Tull on 17 October, Anita Neil on 20 October and Michael Prescod on 22 October. Share them. And if there's someone from your town whose story should be told next October, tell us — that's how next year's list gets written.