East London is known for its alternative youth culture, and rich Victorian history. Founder of the Ayahs’ Home Project, Farhanah, newly brings the two together to uniquely honour South Asian heritage. She shared with us: “I first came across Ayahs when I was watching BBC Two’s documentary, A Passage to Britain, in 2018. In the programme, an Oxbridge historian was investigating the passengers on ship’s lists at different points during British migratory history. In one episode, she spoke to a gentleman who was brought over with an Indian nanny, or Ayah, during the time of British colonialism and tracked him down to discuss the experience with him. Eventually settled in Scotland, the man, now elderly, could not recall her name. The interviewer asked him: “isn’t that strange?” He responded that it was the typical attitude of the time. That was the emotional impetus for me, I wanted to find out more about these women dubbed Ayahs – who they were; how they lived.”
Starting simply with Google, Farhanah went about conducting her own primary research into the underrepresented subject. “The show briefly mentioned an Ayahs’ Home in Hackney in the district where I live. Compelled further by the proximity, I found myself standing outside the abandoned building which has now been turned into privatised housing. I was shocked that there was no mention of what I’d seen on TV. There was no information about this notable former site, or the lives of the hardworking women who had been housed there. It’s interesting how we know of white women’s suffrage or Irish migrant workers, but not the narrative of the oppressed South Asian workers in Britain.”
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Ayahs were often abandoned without pay in the UK after they had served the purpose of childcare for British families on the journey over from India during the time of the British Raj: either immediately after the long nautical journey to England or some years later. As a result, The Ayahs’ Home was established by Christian missionaries in London, becoming the only refuge for the destitute women. It was the only named institution of its kind in the UK. “Of course, this brought only limited sanctuary,” Farhanah continued. “It was a temporary stop”. In addition to being disregarded by owners, the Ayah’s humanity was undermined by the invasive attempt to convert them to Christianity, which was heavily practiced by the Home. The women were made to sing hymns, even paraded about on the street to demonstrate the reformation, as if a form of payment. “Ayahs also had their names Anglicized coming over, so there’s no trace of their real identity on the migratory ship logs,” Farhanah told us. “They were recorded just by first or second names of the family such as Mary or Edwards. As you can imagine, many were desperate to return home.” In short, the very identity of the Ayah was robbed. As a result, Farhanah has conscientiously sought to revive the stories of these forgotten women in the most effective way:
“The first aim was to campaign for a Blue Plaque with English Heritage to raise a fundamental awareness amongst the public. The Ayahs’ Home has now been shortlisted for this. This was after discovering records online, which I highlighted in my application. It’s been dishearteningly hard to find first-hand accounts from the Ayahs themselves due to their background being obliterated, but I was able to find second-hand sources via English matrons or law officials and other documented evidence e.g. there’s a story about a group of Ayahs who were found in a dilapidated shack, getting horrendously drunk together; another reports an Ayah who stole jewellery from their owner to pawn in order to secure the passage back to India. Often caught by police, some were even referred to as murderesses in the press. There are also many visual records of Ayahs in the background of period paintings as well as in photographs.”
Here, the investigative campaigner expressed her gratitude for the work of Rozina Visram, whose seminal research until the Eighties allowed her to better understand the world of different Ayahs today. Visram’s works include Ayahs, Lascars and Princes, and Asians in Britain: 400 years of History. “So much of what I’ve found on these incredible women was due to the painstaking work of Rozina.” She spoke at an educational panel with Dr. Florian Stadtler of the University of Exeter, which took place on 7th March at the Hackney Museum, not far from the original Ayahs’ Home, to coincide with International Women’s Day 2020 and mark the official launch of the Ayahs’ Home Project in the present day. “The first part of the event compromised of a presentation and talks, which the experts were excited to do. Up until very recently, the research materials and primary sources had not been digitised or made accessible to the public so they were delighted.” The eponymous event then further aimed to create a bridge between the generations: “it’s especially important for young people to be able to fully engage with their history. I’ve been happy to cast the light on an overlooked cultural group.” Indeed, this allows deep preservation of one’s ancestry.
To this end, Farhana also commissioned the contemporary South Asian poetry collective, Yoniverse, to compile a series of poems to poignantly capture the range of experiences of the Ayahs. This included Shruti Chauhan, Shareefa Energy, and Shagufta Iqbal. As well as performing in the evening to beautifully finish the event, Yoniverse ran workshops in the afternoon so attendees could attempt their own immersion in the world of the Ayahs: “The group created these amazing verses which brought to life the narratives that I’d read. They illustrated what it would have been like for an Ayah to gradually lose their cultural and religious identity, and explored the complexity of that loss and pain.” Indeed, there is a cruel paradox in an increasingly vanishing sense of the self through the taking on of an intimate responsibility: “these women sacrificed themselves for another’s comfort: there’s another heart-breaking story of an Ayah who was found homeless at King’s Cross – for all her effort, the family simply left with her £1.00. This was not much at the time either.”
However, Farhanah finally made sure to highlight the necessity of a celebratory perspective in paying homage to the marginalised. Indeed, those who have endured a lot must naturally be strong in character: “One of the most memorable accounts is the story of an Ayah named Minnie Green. She had been physically assaulted by the family whom she travelled with who then also abandoned her. She not only sued them and took them to court in 1892, but also won the case! A journalist describes her as 'an intelligent Hindostani wearing pearls either side of her nose'. This shows that these women had agency and are not simply victims. If we are to recover their history, it is important to see them as whole". And so, remembering the past is not an exercise in undoing the trauma. It cannot ever be. Rather, delivering a remedial social justice that boosts our appreciation of life too. As demonstrated by Farhanah’s nostalgic work, there's a mutual benefit in pure acknowledgment. "Ultimately, this evolving, well-received project returns to these women their dignity.”
Combining the navigation of identity politics, racism, the Windrush generation, intersectionality and migration, The Ayahs’ Home Project next creative event will take place on the 13th August where Farhanah will give a virtual talk alongside the release of a book, When Secrets Set Sail, centred on the uncovering of the mystery of the Ayahs’ Home.
You can also attend:The Ayahs' Home Project's Uncovering Lost Histories with the U.K. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's BAME network. This will take place on Aug 12, 12:00PM
Insta & Twitter: @Ayahshome
