Who are the Seven Saints of St Pauls? The fascinating stories behind the murals
St Pauls is an area steeped in history but there are seven people who arguably made it what it is today - its Seven Saints.
During the large-scale immigration of the 1950s, St Pauls became the home of many people moving to the UK from Ireland and Jamaica.
It has since been at the centre of huge moments in black British history and the people of St Pauls have been pivotal in improving race relations in the UK.
The world we live in would be very different today if it were not for the Seven Saints of St Pauls - Carmen Beckford MBE, Delores Campbell, Barbara Dettering, Clifford Drummond, Audley Evans, Roy Hackett MBE and Owen Henry.
Between them, they were responsible for the Bristol Bus Boycott, the creation of St Pauls Carnival, and improving life within the community.
In 2019, artist Dr Michele Curtis completed a project to create a mural for each of the Seven Saints.
We caught up with her to hear the stories behind each of the Seven Saints.
Roy Hackett MBE (1928-2022)
Roy Hackett grew up in St Mary's, Jamaica and sold insurance before moving to the UK and settling in Liverpool. Then he moved to St Pauls.
In 1962, Roy's wife Edna applied to work as a bus conductor. Despite being fully qualified, she was rejected.
Bristol Omnibus Company had persistently refused to hire black or Asian drivers or conductors, citing their 'low quality' labour and fears of putting white women in situations around black and Asian men.
So Roy and three of his friends - Owen Henry, Audley Evans and Prince Brown - decided to make a stand and started the Bristol Bus Boycott.
It saw black and Asian people across the city refuse to use buses, with many white people supporting them.
Marches and rallies were staged, with the boycott attracting national attention and highlighting the broader issue of racism in the UK.
Bristol Omnibus Company backed down and the ‘colour bar’ was quashed. The campaign helped to persuade Harold Wilson’s Labour government to introduce the Race Relations Act of 1965 - the first piece of anti-racist legislation in Britain.
In 1966, Roy became the chair of Bristol’s first West Indian Entertainment Centre - The Bamboo Club - which opened just off Portland Square in 1966.
The social club welcomed the African and Caribbean people who had moved to the UK. It played host to the likes of Bob Marley as well as other reggae and ska legends like Jimmy Cliff before it burned down in 1977.
Roy also co-founded the Commonwealth Coordinated Committee, which was later renamed the West Indian Parents’ and Friends’ Association. The organisation aimed to improve the quality of life for people in St Pauls, as well as promoting integration and equal opportunity regardless of race.
He was given multiple awards including an MBE and a commendation from the Office of the Jamaican High Commissionr for his outstanding contribution to his community.
Speaking about Roy and his mural on 15 Byron Road in St Pauls, artist Michele said: “Wow, where do you begin with Roy?
"When I think about Roy I think about the buses and I think about carnival and I think about what a stand-up guy he was. He was such a gentleman and so kind.
“Until the day he passed, he was always so concerned about the community, the children in the community.
"He had a strong sense of justice all he ever wanted was for things to be fair and equitable. His accolades are just endless, he spent his whole life working hard for the community and in his personal life."
Carmen Beckford MBE (1928-2016)
Carmen Beckford was a nurse, midwife and community leader from Jamaica who moved to the UK at the age of 17.
Like many who moved to the UK, Carmen faced discrimination - and was refused a job due to her race.
Speaking about what happened before her death, Carmen said: "I was told by a senior officer working for Somerset Country Council that I could not be employed as a health visitor in the area because she was afraid that patients would not accept me as a health visitor at that time.
"She knew I was trained in the country as a nurse, a midwife, a health visitor, and queen's nurse, and she knew all this. Yet, she said I could not be employed in Somerset for this reason.
"So I applied to Gloucestershire and fortunately, I was accepted as a health visitor there and worked very happily in South Gloucestershire for about four and a half years.”
Carmen went on to become known as the 'Carnival Queen' not just because she was a founding member but because of the way she embodied the carnival spirit of bringing people together.
Speaking of her mural in 38 St Nicholas Road, Michele said Carmen was "definitely a force to reckon with".
"She founded St Pauls Carnival, she was the first race relations officer in Bristol. As part of her job, she wanted to bring all these communities together and so she wanted to have a dance competition.
"She said that nobody would allow her to do that because it hadn’t been done before and it was unheard of. She was able to convince them, she said ‘Well, this would be the first time’ and she pulled it off and she did it.”
Carmen received many awards in her lifetime, including being the first black female recipient of an MBE in the South West.
She was also a Race Relations Officer at the Commonwealth Co-ordinated Committee. She was also the first community development officer at Bristol City Council.
Poet and educator Lawrence Hoo was commissioned to write a poem for Carmen's funeral.
He told ITV News: “She had very high standards and it was to do the best that you can, to be the best person, the best version of you, and that’s helped raise the bar for all of us.
"To look as say well look it can be done, don’t beat yourself down, raise yourself up."
Delores Campbell (1932-2023)
Delores Campbell is known as the 'surrogate mother of Black British culture' having fostered 30 children during an 18-year period.
Delores was the first woman member of the Commonwealth Coordinated Committee, as well as a member of local and national committees which aimed to support people's well-being.
She was also one of the founding members of St Pauls Carnival.
Speaking of her mural at 17 Grosvenor Road, Michele said: “Delores is known as Nanny because she cared for children.
"Fun fact - the children’s illustration on her mural was actually drawn and designed by my son, and he is actually a distant relative of Dolores as well.
"Her mural represented her personality, she was very lighthearted, and she loved flowers, and so I think her mural captures her perfectly.”
Remembering her dear friend, fellow Seven Saint Barbara Dettering told ITV News West Country that Delores "was fun, fun, fun all the time" and a "people person".
"She’d be laughing, she’d be up there grinning and saying to her husband who passed before her - ‘Roy, I’m on the wall'."
Cashan Campbell is Delores' granddaughter and she is extremely proud of her grandmother and what she achieved in her lifetime.
She said: “One of the beautiful things about the Seven Saints of St Pauls is that the murals have translated into education and not just at a secondary level but also at a primary level. So you’ve got lots of people who are coming from different parts of the city discovering some unsung heroes.
“I think the legacy that she left with us is the love, it’s the laughter, it’s the food, the warm-hearted nature of her and my grandad and the stories they would share. It’s our extended family, they had a really tight friendship group like my Aunty Babs and so I think it’s very much a memory that we hold really dear in our hearts."
Barbara Dettering: Born 1939
Barbara Dettering is the only Seven Saint alive today.
She moved to Bristol in 1961 and was commonly known as 'Aunty Babs' after spending many hours looking after children and the elderly.
Barbara worked in her community as a teacher and as a social worker. She also co-founded the United Housing Association alongside fellow Seven Saint, Owen Henry and played a role in the Bristol Bus Boycott.
Barbara describes herself as one of the "silent diggers", who worked away in the background to get her point across and change the lives of future generations.
“I wouldn’t get up there and get into the face of anybody and argue my point," she said.
"I would get behind the scenes and I would get what I want because I’m silently digging away there, digging away and I’ll get my point across.”
Barbara, like the other Seven Saints was also a founding member of the carnival.
Speaking of the mural of Barbara in 45 Tudor Road, Michele said: “Barbara is the only member of the Seven Saints that isn’t Jamaican, she’s actually Guyanese. And so her mural depicts that and highlights her cultural heritage.
"The lily that is on her mural is the national flower and the bird that’s on her mural is also the national bird. I wanted to honour that."
She said Barbara was "very humbled" when she saw the finished piece, adding: "I think we did a really good job at capturing her spirit and who she is and her kind heart."
Clifford Drummond (1917-2002)
Clifford Lesseps Drummond was born in Jamaica and he and his wife Mavis moved to the UK together.
Clifford was very hard-working. Even while in full-time employment, he started several businesses, namely the Speedy Bird Cafe which Clifford opened with his broth Delroy Douglas in 1956.
"That helped to be a meeting point for other Jamaicans and West Indians that were here at the time,” said Clifford's daughter, Enid Drummond.
“My father was a very quiet but intense person. He was a deep thinker hence his interest in all the activism that took place in the 60s."
She added: “He came to this country in 1955 and immediately set about helping his other immigrants to join him and to see that they got a better welcome than he got when he came."
Clifford was also co-founder of the first black-owned travel agent, Homeland's Travel Service, alongside fellow Seven Saint Owen Henry.
The Homelands Travel service chartered cheap flights to the Caribbean to enable families who had immigrated from the West Indies to reunite more easily.
Clifford was also the inaugural secretary and treasurer of the Commonwealth Coordinated Committee which he co-founded with Roy Hackett and Owen Henry in 1962.
He also invited speakers to Bristol to talk about health problems which specifically impacted the black community like sickle cell disease.
Michele, who painted Clifford's mural at 41 Morgan Street, said: “He [Clifford] spent his whole life giving and giving and giving, and his family members are exactly the same."
Audley Evans: Died 1991
Audley Evans was a skilled engineer and one of the founders of the West Indian Development Council.
He was born in Jamaica but moved to Bristol and started St Pauls Carnival along with other Seven Saints.
In 1963, along with Roy Hackett, Owen Henry and Prince Brown, Audley decided to make a stand as one of the founding members of the Bristol Bus Boycott.
However, just after the first carnival he disappeared and left the UK without a trace.
It was later discovered that he and his family had moved to Canada, where his daughter Judith was born, before the family moved to Chicago and then Florida.
Michele said: "Audley fought in the bus boycotts and he was one of the main leaders and campaigners behind it. He founded carnival and then he left, without a trace.
"So, finding his daughter, hearing Audley’s story and all the things he had accomplished when he left the UK was amazing.”
“I just think he was trying to live and take care of his family like everybody else was," said Judith Mcintyre, speaking to ITV News West Country via Zoom from Florida.
"When he was refused opportunities, my dad being the kind of guy he is, was like ‘no no no no no no no' this is not going to happen.
“My memories of my father are always of a proud man, and when I found out about what he was doing in England I knew, I was like ‘yep that sounds just like him'."
Audley died of prostate cancer in 1991.
Owen Henry: 1928-1989
Owen Henry became known as the "mayor of St Pauls" after arriving in Bristol in 1956.
He founded the West Indian Development Council which, in 1963, spearheaded the Bristol Bus Boycott. He was co-founder of Homeland's Travel Service alongside fellow Seven Saint, Clifford Drummond
Owen co-founded of United Housing Association and the Commonwealth Coordinated Committee.
In 1979, the Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley awarded him the Order of Merit.
Owen also became a member of the Voluntary Police Liaison Committee, which was set up to improve relations between the police and the community following the 1980 St Pauls riot.
Michele Curtis told ITV News West Country Owen was an "amazing character".
“So, Owen Henry is an amazing character, he really is. When I did my first exhibition which was called iconic black Bristolians, every single person said to me that I had to include Owen Henry.
"Owen Henry was like the unofficial mayor of St. Pauls or the official mayor of St. Pauls.
"Whether it was to do with your child’s education or you wanted to book a flight, Owen Henry was the guy to go and see.
"He had a wealth of knowledge and resources and he dedicated his life to serving his community."
Michele said his mural design was inspired by photographs that Caribbean families would take when they came to the UK in the 60s.
"The background of his mural is supposed to be a 60s-style wallpaper but instead of using a generic design, we used the hummingbirds to pay homage to Jamaica which is where he's from."
His mural can be found at 158 City Road,