Aisha 'Special K' Wilson
I have Irish, English and Jamaican Ancestors! Aisha 'Special K' Wilson © Nikky Wilson My family is quite a mixture. My mother is half English and half Irish. Her father was a Wilson, which is where my name comes from, but her mother (my maternal grandmother) was Irish. Her maiden name was Herrick. Agnes Herrick, my grandmother, had a brother who emigrated to France and set up a vineyard. Apparently it's now a very successful wine making company, quite a respected label. My great uncle used to send the family a bottle of 'Herrick' wine every Christmas. I've never met his side of the family but I'd like to do so in the future (even though as a practicing Muslim, I don't drink!). On my father's side, the family history is more vague. His family name is Campbell and he came from St Ann's in Jamaica. That's all I know. In fact I know more about my step dad's family as he looked after me from when I was nine months old as my father didn't stay with my mother. As a child I wasn't really aware of the significance of my multiple heritage but my mother suffered from a lot of prejudice towards her because she had married a black man. In those days, probably around the 1950s, that was quite a big thing! I do remember being taken to see my grandmother on Sunday lunch times when my grandfather regularly visited the pub. Apparently he had banned my mother from crossing his threshold but one day he came home early and found us there: me, my mum and my older sister. The story goes that he was so smitten with me as a toddler that he changed his mind and started to recognise us as his own family. I, myself, am one of eight girls born to my mother. Some of them are my step sisters but we are all close. I later found out that my biological father had three daughters and one son so I have plenty of family to be in touch with! I have always kept my maiden name, Wilson, but 'Special K' is my DJ name. Written by Aisha 'Special K' Wilson, January 2007. |