It is 23rd June and on this day in 1948 Mona Baptiste was settling into her, temporary, new home at 18 Collingham Gardens, a hostel for ‘colonial women’ in west London:
Yesterday, 22nd, she had disembarked from the SS Empire Windrush at Tilbury along with (at least) 1,026 fellow passengers.
The day before that, on Tuesday 21st, Mona had celebrated her 22nd birthday at sea as the Windrush steamed up the English Channel and past the white cliffs of Dover.
Among the passengers who disembarked at Tilbury were two who were also housed at Collingham Gardens, the stowaway, Evelyn Wauchope, and forty-seven-year-old, Edith Demetrius. You can read Evelyn’s story here: https://www.historycalroots.com/what-became-of-the-windrush-stowaway-evelyn-wauchope/
While Mona and Evelyn swiftly moved on, Edith remained at Collingham Gardens for at least two years. Although she had a sister living in Cambridge, there is no evidence she ever went to live there.
Collingham Gardens was a staging post in the lives of all three women. Evelyn’s life eventually took her to New York where she died on 20th May 1984. Edith died of heart failure in Redbridge on 15th February 1997, she was ninety-five. Mona’s career in music and films took her to many parts of the globe before she died in Dublin on 20th August 1993. Her story is documented in our book:
Three women, three Windrush passengers, three very different stories.