Eric George Irons OBE (1921–2007) was Britain's first black

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

and a campaigner for equal rights.

Early life

Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, he was recruited into the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in Jamaica in 1944 and in 1945 visited

RAF Syerston Royal Air Force Station Syerston, commonly known as merely RAF Syerston , is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during the ...

but was based at

Little Rissington Little Rissington is a village and civil parish about south of Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 280. Parish church The oldest part of the Church of Engl ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. From this visit, he decided he wanted to live in Nottingham. He extended his service with the RAF for a further five years, married a local girl from Nottingham, Nellie Kelham, and settled on Pennyfoot Street. Eric and Nellie went on to raise 6 children together. His mum was a cook and his father was a policeman.

Career

His lifelong passion for racial equality inspired him to move into public life. Because of the prejudices shown towards black people in the 1950s, Irons set up the first community group, the Colonial Social and Sports Club, at his own house. Irons began work at Chilwell Ordnance Depot in the offices in 1952. Only a handful of black workers were employed at the depot. He began to take up the issue of discrimination with the Nottingham and District Trades Council. Through his efforts of negotiation, some of the problems were resolved and more black workers were taken on, both in the depot and in other employment. In 1955 Irons went on to the Consultative Committee for the welfare of black people, which was set up by a Council of Church/Social Services and the Colonial Social and Sports Club. The idea was to discuss prejudice and local issues. One of the problems lay in the fact that no black people were taking advantage of educational courses, particularly those held by the WEA. He challenged and helped to lift a city transport embargo on the employment of black workers and also helped the city council to tackle problems highlighted by the 1958 race riots. He made history in 1962 when he was appointed Britain's first black magistrate; he sat on the Nottingham bench for 29 years until his retirement in 1991. A champion for social justice, Eric Irons was awarded an OBE in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginn ...

list. In 1999, the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

awarded him an honorary Master of Arts degree for improving race relations in the City.

Commemoration

The National Portrait Gallery, London, acquired a portrait of Eric Irons in 2017 as part of their Creative Connections: Nottingham project. The portrait was displayed as part of the exhibition by artist, Katherine Green, at Nottingham Contemporary in 2017, and then at the National Portrait Gallery until February 2017. In October 2019, a plaque was put up in Iron's memory by

Nottingham Civic Society } The Nottingham Civic Society is a civic society based in the city of Nottingham, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea l ...

at the

National Justice Museum The National Justice Museum (formerly known as the Galleries of Justice Museum and, historically, the Shire Hall and County Gaol) is an independent museum on High Pavement in the Lace Market area of Nottingham, England. The museum is housed i ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

References

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External links

Portrait of Eric Irons in National Portrait Gallery Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irons, Eric 1921 births 2007 deaths Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Spanish Town English justices of the peace Black British activists Black British military personnel Officers of the Order of the British Empire