Harry Boucher shares the story of his pioneering relative

Several years ago, whilst on holiday to Edinburgh, I visited Buccleuch Place, a row of grand Georgian apartments in the centre of the city which now comprise part of the campus of Edinburgh University. I walked up and down the road several times before finding what I had come for, squeezed in between a rather imposing door to its left, and some equally imposing railings to its right: a small, unassuming plaque. I had to squint to read what was written on it: ‘The University of Edinburgh, In Honour of James Africanus Horton of Sierra Leone, 1835 – 1883, First African Graduate of the University.’ Before making my trip I had done a little research. James Horton was born in Sierra Leone in 1835, the child of freed slaves. In 1855, at the request of the War Office, he was sent for further medical training at King’s College, London before going on to study at Edinburgh University. It was whilst completing his studies that Horton took the name Africanus as a statement of his roots. Horton was one of the first Africans to qualify as a medical doctor, achieving the title Surgeon Major, and his research was pivotal in discovering sickle cell disease. Keen that other Africans should follow his example, Horton left a large portion of his estate for the development of scientific education. There is even a crater on Mercury named after him. Having worked as part of the University of Surrey’s Doctoral College for several years I have been fortunate to meet with a vast array of PGRs whose research topics are as varied as their backgrounds. One thing that struck me was the power that education has to uncover and promote previously marginalised minority voices, and to provide the opportunity to explore and create new platforms and modes of expression for these voices. Encouraged by my experiences at Surrey, whilst understanding that there is still a long way to go in order to achieve the type of equality that those such as Africanus fought for, I now begin my own PhD at the University of Bristol, researching my families’ mixed Jewish, German, French, Sierra Leonean, and British heritage. Africanus Horton is my great-great-great-grandfather, and one of his books, Vindication of the African Race, will now form a central part of my research project. I am proud to continue his legacy.