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

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

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 Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. 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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, 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 United ...

, the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

, the

Museum of London Docklands The Museum of London Docklands (formerly known as Museum in Docklands), based in West India Quay, explains the history of the River Thames, the growth of Port of London and the docks historical link to the Atlantic slave trade. The museum is par ...

, the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

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 "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...

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 of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, England, his parents settled having arrived in Britain from

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

in 1954, and Martin received his education at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) 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 endowment, endowments le ...

. 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 network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

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 '' Trevor Phillips on Sunday'', a Sunday ...

. 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 suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, 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 by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

family.

Cesar Picton Cesar Picton (c. 1755 – 1836) was presumably enslaved in Africa by the time he was about six years old. He was bought and brought to England by an English army officer who had been in Senegal, and in 1761 was "presented" as a servant to Sir Jo ...

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 Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...

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

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 Gar ...

. Martin lives and works in

South London South London is the southern part of 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, London Borou ...

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. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher ...

, 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