THE BLACK COUNTESS FROM BAIN STREET (Never Kissed by the Queen)

Thanks to development funding from the National Film and Video Foundation, I am in the first phase of producing what I hope to be a highly significant documentary film, about one of the most extraordinary cross-cultural love stories ever. If you’ve landed here, you probably share a passion for culture, history, and amazing little-known tales like that of Harry and Martha which have quietly helped to shape nations such as ours, thereby creating a richer society. In a while, I hope to be able to report that my passion has proved infectious, attracting others who would like to share, and perhaps assist on a more material basis, in the telling of this tale.

By nature, a sense of common purpose implies that those who would be interested in investing in this project (via whatever means at their disposal) are also readers, and – as such – will not object to familiarising themselves with the subjects in question, namely Harry and Martha Grey (aka Lord and Lady Stamford.) Please read on …

February 26, 2010

THE STORY OF HARRY AND MARTHA

Few stories sum up the complex and often uncomfortable history of South Africa as a rainbow nation with more impact and emotional resonance than that of the world’s only “Black Countess”, Lady Martha Grey (neé Solomons). Daughter of an ambitious freed slave, this humble ‘Cape Coloured’ woman became, by default through her marriage to British nobleman Harry Grey (a former Anglican parson, alcoholic drifter and colonial remittance man), the 8th Countess of Stamford, and 9th Baroness of Groby. In the UK, their union was regarded as one of the greatest scandals of its day – especially as tradition demanded that Queen Victoria place a customary kiss on the cheek of the wives of Peers of the Realm when presented to her!
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