Bill Steadman, a Reluctant Jamaican Immigrant Who Made Leamington Home

William Walker Steadman. Warwickshire County Record Office reference CR5422/18

Bill Steadman never intended to spend 64 years in Leamington Spa. Born in Jamaica in 1930, all of Bill’s life had been a struggle – beginning right at the start when his mother and his twin sister at died in childbirth. He grew up with his grandmother and had little formal education. He was a good listener and was keen to make and fix things with his hands.

Stability and a steady job?

At 30 Bill felt he had stability in his life with a steady job as a labourer at the Port Esquivel, Bauxite Company in  St. Catherine Jamaica., a son and a fiancée who had her own ideas of improving her life in England, whilst his wages of £70 every fortnight made him think twice about relocating and starting from scratch. His fiance, Victoria Myton, came to England as part of the Windrush generation in 1956. She was determined to explore opportunities for herself and  her son who she left behind. After six years of pleading with Bill to come to England and getting frustrated by his procrastination, she pressed him for a decision and gave him an ultimatum:” find yourself in Leamington or I’m packing my trunk to return to Jamaica!”

Victoria had already secured work at Potterton’s, a Boiler production company which moved from London to Warwick in 1945. Bill reluctantly left his secure job, got a reference from his supervisor and arrived in Leamington in 1960. What were his first impressions of the UK when he arrived?

Bill arrived in Leamington Spa with financial resources, unlike many other migrants from the Caribbean. This meant that within a year he was able to make a down payment and purchase his home at 61 Hitchman Road where he lived until his death in 2024. Most of the half a million migrants from the Caribbean who came to the UK following World War Two came at the direct invitation of the British government to help rebuild the country. The NHS. London Transport, British Rail and other companies mounted recruitment campaigns in the  Caribbean :  in newspapers, on the radio and in some cases these companies  actually sent out personnel to recruit workers.

Wedding group for Bill and Vickie Steadman, 2nd September 1961. Warwickshire County Record Office reference CR5422/6

Bill and Victoria got married at the All Saints Parish Church in Leamington Spa in 1962, one of the first Black couples from the Caribbean to do so. It was a splendid affair and caused quite a sensation at the time, as people stopped to view the grand wedding party and the beaming bride and groom.

Overt racism

Bill Steadman at work at Pottertons. Warwickshire County Record Office reference CR5422/9

Bill worked in the maintenance department at Potterton’s from 1960 to 1995 when he retired. Like most Black and Brown skinned immigrants from the then British Empire, he faced overt racism and dealt with it in his own way; directly, facing  abusers head-on and refusing to be  cowed as a victim of racial prejudice.

Throughout his working life at Potterton’s Bill made friends and attracted people by his gregarious personality and warm hearted humour. At his funeral, former colleagues from Potterton’s  reminisced about his  grand traffic stopping wedding in Leamington in 1962, and his neighbours on Hitchman Road spoke about Bill and Vicky’s Jamaican cuisine; he would pass umpteen dishes of rice and peas and chicken over the fence. As a tribute to William Walker Steadman, His neighbours arranged a special celebration for his 90th birthday; blocking off the street, putting up bunting  and  banners and inviting a steel band to play right in front of his house.

Loving Leamington

William Walker Steadman, from Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine, Jamaica, came to Leamington Spa a reluctant immigrant and stayed. Having made his home in Warwickshire, he never returned to live in the land of his birth. In his latter years he was a keen gardener, had an allotment and  he attended community events organised by the African Caribbean Project, then later was involved with the African Caribbean Community  Association. Determined to improve himself, Bill returned to formal education after his retirement, to improve his literacy and computer skills at Warwickshire College.

Apart from the cold weather, Bill loved his life in Leamington Spa and the UK. He travelled widely and participated fully in community life.  He came to a personal faith in Jesus Christ in his latter years and attended the Life Church on Charlotte Street, where his funeral service took place  in 2025. He leaves behind his only son Roddy, granddaughters, Davinia and Hannah and many other relatives and friends.