A retired radio broadcaster from Chatham has unearthed the amazing life of a distant relative who won a place in the history books of black Africa and Victorian England.

At the age of five, Arnold Awooner-Gordon’s great-great-grandmother, born into a West African dynasty, was brought to England and presented to Queen Victoria as a gift from one royal family to another.

The young girl had been captured in 1848 in a slave hunt in which her parents were brutally killed.

The monarch, who was impressed with her natural regal manner and gift for academic studies, adopted her and she became known as The African Princess.

Arnold, 84, was told the remarkable story by his great-grandmother Emily and for years assumed they were the ramblings of an old lady.

But curiosity got the better of him when he arrived in this country from Sierra Leone.

A phone call to Windsor Castle confirmed it was true and, fired with enthusiasm, he delved deeper to discover by an incredible coincidence the woman, Sarah Forbes Bonnetta, had at some point lodged in Gillingham with the Queen’s approval.

It was only when TV researchers making a documentary informed him they had tracked down where she lived that he found out where.

To his amazement, it was in Canterbury Street - about a mile away from his home in Luton and in a road he had walked along on numerous occasions.

Arnold, of Cobden Road, said: “I had given up finding the house.

"I knew the name Palm Cottage and knew there was a social club by that name but I had no idea there was a cottage tucked behind.
"I thought it would have been knocked down.

Arnold has since returned to the house with the BBC television crew where he unveiled a memorial plaque.

Sarah Forbes Bonnetta is the subject of an exhibition at Chatham Historic Dockyard entitled "Untold Stories: A Celebration of Black People in Kent".

It runs from Friday, October 5 to Sunday December 2.

Arnold added: “She has been the subject of many magazine and newspaper articles and documentaries.

“But there are still people out there who don’t know about The African Princess - and in particular her links to Medway.

"It is important to hear about the part black people played in our history.”

Arnold will be dropping into the exhibition from time to time.