HERITAGE TALK – THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF CHARLES UDOR MINTO MBE

During Black History Month, we are very pleased to welcome back local historian David Young, who will shine a light on Charles Udor Minto MBE, a former middleweight boxing champion in his home country Nigeria, who found his way to North Shields in 1925, becoming an active community leader, lobbying successfully for a social centre for black residents of the town.

He will reveal the key episodes of Charles’s life in North Shields, an extraordinary story full of twists and turns.

David, a former Old Low Light trustee, will explain how Charles was a man of great courage. He was born in Nigeria on 18 July 1893 where he started boxing eventually becoming the country’s middleweight champion.

During the First World War he joined the Merchant Navy as either a stoker or a cook and at the conclusion of the conflict found himself in Liverpool, where he married a local girl and began a family.

By 1925 he is living on Clive Street in the low town area of North Shields. It is while here that he becomes active as a community leader and begins to lobby at both locally and national levels for a social centre, initially for the Black residents of North Shields.

With the onset of the Second World War and the increase in the number transient seamen arriving in North Shields, the Government agreed to the founding of a social space and on 1 May 1942, the then parliamentary undersecretary for the colonies and future Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan opened Colonial House at 3 Northumberland Place.

Charlie took many a knock down in achieving his goals for the Black community of North Shields. However, the ex-boxer always managed to get up from the canvas to fight on. He was fortunate to have a very influential man in his corner during this time. The only thing both men had in common was a commitment to improve the lives of their race.

Eventually life delivers a series of knock out blows to Charlie which forces him to retire from both public life as well as the Shields community.

In 2023 a blue plaque was installed at 3 Northumberland Place to commemorate the contribution he made to improving the lives of Black people who lived in or visited North Shields.

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