Client Corner - Charmian Kenner

Author, Charmian Kenner has been a Castlefield client for over 20 years, along with her sister and mother. 

 In this Client Corner feature, Castlefield’s Olivia Bowen discusses Charmian’s latest book, Revolutionary Partners - the story of Sarah Andrews and Francisco de Miranda, whose London home served as a British headquarters for the struggle to liberate Latin America from Spanish rule. Charmian focuses on Sarah’s story, and that of other women activists of the time.

Olivia (OB): How did you get into writing and is this your first publication?

Charmian (CK): I wrote several books for academics and teachers in my role as a lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. The focus was young children’s bilingual development, and it was a personal connection that led me to investigate that area – inspired by watching my son grow up, and wanting to find out how this fantastic resource of bilingualism could be preserved and developed. I carried out action research with teachers to see how they could value and encourage children’s other languages despite the monolingual outlook of English primary schools.

OB: What inspired you to write Revolutionary Partners?

CK: A picture on a wall! I was attending a Latin American cultural event at Bolívar Hall in London, and in the foyer was a large modern painting, a re-imagining of a historical event. It showed a group of men clustered round a table littered with books and maps.

They turned out to be revolutionaries in early 19^th century London working for independence in Latin America. Among them were Simón Bolívar, ‘El Libertador’, the future liberator of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama from Spanish rule, and José de San Martín, who would emancipate Argentina and play a key role in freeing Chile and Peru.

Previously unknown to me was the main figure in the group, an older man with white hair, holding the red, blue and yellow striped flag of independence. This was Francisco de Miranda, who I later discovered was ‘El Precursor’, the first person to imagine a liberated Latin American continent that he called ‘Colombia’. Miranda based himself in London to campaign for British support.

He led the first attempt to achieve revolution in Venezuela, and although he was to die in a Spanish prison in 1816, his thoughts and deeds inspired a generation of freedom fighters who eventually fulfilled his aims.

Even more interesting to me than any of these men was a young woman in the painting, sitting slightly apart from the group and attempting to read a book while two young children insistently sought her attention. I wondered who she could be. To my surprise, the information alongside the painting named her as Sarah Andrews, the partner of Francisco de Miranda, with their sons Leander and Francisco beside her. The meeting of revolutionaries was taking place at the house where she lived with Miranda, which still exists alongside Bolívar Hall in Grafton Way, near Euston Road.

Immediately I was captivated by the idea that an English woman could have worked with key historical figures as they plotted from London to accomplish revolution in Latin America. I myself had been involved in Latin American solidarity groups in London in the 1980s, and also had a Latin American partner with whom I had a son, so I felt a strong connection with Sarah.

I decided there and then to take up the challenge of researching Sarah Andrews’ life, and a challenge it indeed proved to be. Much is known and written about Francisco de Miranda, and hardly anything about Sarah Andrews. However there are eleven letters from Sarah to Miranda during his revolutionary campaign in Venezuela from 1805 to 1807.

These proved to be a treasure trove, and I was able to reconstruct key aspects of Sarah’s life. She was a resourceful activist who maintained her home as the London headquarters for Latin American independence, defended Miranda’s 6,000-volume library (the largest personal library in London and an important resource for radicals) from being sold, and brought up her children to understand the liberation struggle and eventually join it.

Along the way, I discovered the existence of other British people who became involved in the independence movement in the early 1800s: volunteers in the Legión Británnica who fought alongside Bolívar, and women such as Mary English, Kitty Cochrane and Maria Graham, who travelled to Latin America on expeditions with the British Legion or alone. Their stories are also part of the book, highlighting their contribution as partners in the revolution too.

The government must act to stop using fossil fuels, restore nature and create the infrastructure for a green economy.

OB: What was the biggest challenge for you in writing the book?

CK: Realising how little I knew about Latin American history! I was not taught any of it at school, with the curriculum being restricted to British and European history, so I had no idea of the events that took place in the Latin American independence struggle, or indeed that any British people were involved in it. Strikingly, friends who grew up in Latin American countries know far more about our history, given that the colonial experience is still writ large. Starting from zero, I educated myself through research in the British Library and online. 

OB: I know you are an active campaigner for the environment – could you explain a little about the activism have you been involved in and why?

CK: I now have two wonderful granddaughters, currently aged eight and five, who we are bringing up bilingually too. I want a liveable future for all the world’s children, and I dedicate much of my time to campaigning with Extinction Rebellion Grandparents & Elders and my local XR group. The government must act to stop using fossil fuels, restore nature and create the infrastructure for a green economy. It makes absolute sense but we’re in a fight for our lives with the oil and gas giants and other greedy companies. I think – and hope - we will eventually win!

OB: To what extent did your upbringing lead you to become an ethical / responsible investor?

CK: I inherited my social conscience from my mother Jill Kenner. When she saw something that needed to be put right, she set about doing it. Jill pioneered sex education in primary schools in the 1960s, for which she was characterised as ‘the Sex Woman’ by the Daily Mail, and she helped to found a hospice in St Albans in the 1980s, with much else in between. I think that campaigning spirit is now being passed on to my grandchildren. They have already taken part in protests and my younger granddaughter, who loves all insects from woodlice to butterflies, made her own little placard spontaneously, saying ‘Help the Insects!’ with a drawing of a bee buzzing amongst flowers. They know the world is in a mess but crucially they also know that people are doing something about it – my older granddaughter recently announced she was going to live on another planet until this one was cleaned up, and she thought Extinction Rebellion would be on the job. So our activism goes across the generations. My mother was the first person in our family to invest ethically. By continuing to do so, I honour her memory as well as keeping faith with my personal values. Advised by Castlefield, I’ve invested for my grandchildren too!

Interview by Olivia Bowen

Charmian’s book Revolutionary Partners is available free here - https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/revolutionary-partners.