photographer

Albert Mahomet

About: 

Born in the East End of London to an English mother and Indian father, Albert Mahomet was a photographer, teacher and a preacher. He has left a record of his life and of the life of the poor in London's East End and Norfolk in his book From Street Arab to Pastor.

Mahomet's father, a former lascar, left his family when Mahomet was young and died on a ship to Calcutta. His mother, Ann, was arrested some time around 1867 and so Mahomet and his three siblings were taken into Limehouse workhouse and then the Thursford Union near Wells. Two years later, Mahomet was rescued by his uncle and took up a job as a servant in Wells. After a series of jobs he moved to Lincoln and became a teacher in a United Methodist Free Church Sunday School. He began to preach in the area and was active in the temperance movement.

In December 1881, Mahomet married a fellow evangelist, Paulina Gill. They returned to Wells in 1893. Mahomet also became a professional photographer. Some of his photographs can be found in the library in Wells. It is not known when he died.

Published works: 

From Street Arab to Pastor (Cardiff: J. B. Thomasson, n.d.)

Date of birth: 
01 Apr 1858
Precise DOB unknown: 
Y
Secondary works: 

Shepherd, J. E., A. J. Mahomet: From Street Arab to Evangelist (Ventnor: W. B. Tomkins, n.d.)

Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto Press, 2002)

Archive source: 

Photographs, Wells Library, Norfolk

City of birth: 
London
Country of birth: 
England

Location

Wells-next-the-Sea, NR23 1HD
United Kingdom
52° 57' 15.912" N, 0° 50' 57.7896" E
Location: 

Sophia Street, Bow, London (place of birth); Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.

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