Trafalgar Square’s St Martin-in-the-Fields gives up secrets of its stones

From a family of chimney sweeps including one of Britain’s two earliest documented Black voters, to the mystery of a 19-year-old youth believed enslaved, St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar Square still has secrets to share as it marks its 300th anniversary. Standing at the heart of London’s political and cultural life for three centuries, its ranks of engraved memorial stones set into the floor and walls of the crypt and cafe are yielding glimpses into long-forgotten lives of ordinary Londoners. The Stories Behind the Stones project, which is building an online archive of the lives of those once buried in its churchyard, is part of its anniversary celebrations. These also include a free exhibition, 300 Years at the Heart and on the Edge, showcasing the church’s history as a place of activism and protest, with a focus on those “at the edge of society”, as well as a parish church and performance venue. New research on the stones shows that William Fatt, a chimney sweep for the Admiralty and Royal Hospital Chelsea, was the son of another William Fatt, a Black chimney sweep of the king’s palaces, who voted in the 1749 Westminster byelection, making him one of the very first known Black voters. John London had been understood to have been the first Black voter. …