S. I. Martin (born 24 April 1961) is a British author, historian, journalist and teacher, specialising in

Black British Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Sub-Saharan ...

history and literature. He wrote ''Britain's Slave Trade'' for Channel 4 Books to accompany the channel's television documentary ''

Windrush Windrush may refer to: Places in England * Windrush Square, precinct in south London * River Windrush, a river in Gloucestershire * Windrush, Gloucestershire, a village in Gloucestershire ** RAF Windrush, a Royal Air Force station in World War II ...

'', a novel, ''Incomparable World'', charting the progress of three black exiles living in 18th-century London, and has written works of fiction for children to widen the consciousness and knowledge of the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

. Aside from authorship, Martin actively promotes the knowledge of

history through his work with London schools, borough councils,

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

, the

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

, the Museum of London Docklands, the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

and the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

. Martin is a patron of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent Irreligion in the United Kingdom, non-religious people in the UK throug ...

Life

Steven Ian Martin was born on 24 April 1961 in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, England, his parents settled having arrived in Britain from

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

in 1954, and Martin received his education at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

. Martin's work is focused on

history and literature. In particular he wished to redress the lack of published history on the presence of black people in Britain before the arrival of '' HMT Windrush'' in 1948. His subsequent journalism, teaching, writing and scholarly work has addressed that lacuna, including his walking tours of London demonstrating "500 Years of Black London". Martin's first novel, ''Incomparable World'' (1996), charts the fate of three black exiles living in 18th-century London. His work of non-fiction, ''Britain's Slave Trade'', was written for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

to tie in with its four-part documentary series, ''

'', produced by

Trevor Phillips Sir Mark Trevor Phillips (born 31 December 1953) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician who served as Chair of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2001 and from 2002 to 2003. He presented ''Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Trevor Phillips ...

. In 2007 Martin's novel for children, ''Jupiter Williams'', was published. It tells a contradictory tale of privilege and dispossession of a boy who lives at the African Academy in

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

, London in 1800, the son of a wealthy

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

family.

Cesar Picton Cesar Picton ( – 1836) was a British merchant of West African descent. Born in West Africa, he was presumably enslaved by the time he was about six years old. He was subsequently brought to England by a British Army officer in 1761 and given ...

is a character in the novel. The sequel, ''Jupiter Amidships'', was published in 2009 and follows Jupiter and his brother who are trapped by a pressgang before boarding their home ship to

. Aside from authorship, Martin actively promotes the knowledge of

history through his work with London schools,

, borough councils, the

, the

, the Museum of London Docklands, the

, the

and the

Black Cultural Archives Black Cultural Archives (BCA) is an archive and heritage centre in Brixton, London, devoted to the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. Also known as BCA, it was founded in 1981, by educationalist and historian Len G ...

. Martin lives and works in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

Selected bibliography

* ''Incomparable World: A Novel''. Published by Quartet Books, London, 1996 * ''Britain's Slave Trade'', London: Channel 4 Books, 1999 * ''Jupiter Williams'', London:

Hodder Children's Books Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

, 2007 * ''Jupiter Amidships'', London: Hodder Children's, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, S. I. 1961 births Living people 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists Black British writers People from Bedford People educated at Bedford Modern School English people of Antigua and Barbuda descent British historians English children's writers 21st-century British male writers British children's writers