Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Tottenham Magistrates Court Approves mixed Race Marriage for Harringay girl and future bandleader Geoff Love
Article in the Daily Mirror, 14 February 1942
I've had this newspaper snippet hanging around in my collection for a few years now, wondering what's to do with it without causing offence.
It was notable to me that the magistrate in 1942 declared that the marriage between joy Peters and Geoff love would be approved and that there was no colour bar. I'd never even thought that there might be a question of any official colour bar. We all know about racial discrimination in 20th century Britain but I've never heard of any official colour bar. Neither can I find any on looking (I'd be interested to learn more about this if anybody has any additional information).
What I did find on looking is that at this time mixed race relationships were particularly sensitive as far as American troops were concerned. The relationships of black trips with English women was tightly controlled by the American military and mixed race relationships strongly discouraged.
In tracking down what became of this apparently I'm assuming, I found that private Geoff love was no other than the well-known Geoff Love whose name rang bells from the credits at the end of various TV programs in my childhood.
Love was born in Todmorden, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the only son of African American Thomas Edward (Kidd) Love and his English wife, Frances Helen Maycock, an actress and singer.
Geoffrey Love's father appearing at Olympia in 1911.
Love ended up famous enough to be honoured with being approached with the famous tap on the shoulder by Eamon Andrews for ITV's This is Your Life. You can watch the episode featuring Geoff and Joy on YouTube.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Geraldine
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Curious and even more curious that your research uncovered no history. I remember Geoff Love and his orchestra.
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh -
My research on this was fairly cursory, Geraldine. The article stuck out when I first found it and I only turned to digging around about it last night, but I think it sounds like Cathie may well have provided an explanation.
I was interested to see if I could discover what had brought Geoff’s father over to Britain. I assume that it may have been something to do with seeking entertainment work over here. But I couldn’t find out anything about him other than the advert I’ve shared above. I couldn’t find out where he came from in the States or anything about his roots.
"Geof Love and his Orchestra" sounds very familiar as I read it now.
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Permalink Reply by Cathie
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You needed parental consent or a court order to marry under the age of 21 at that time. The magistrates‘ remarks indicate that the ‘colour bar’ arose from her parents’ views :-(
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh -
Aha, that sounds like it. Thank you, Cathie.
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