The Morant Bay Rebellion Was an Infamous Part of Jamaican History
Hezekiah’s traumatic flashback memories to his childhood in Jamaica elliptically tell a version of a real, violent historical episode in colonial history. The 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion was an uprising by the people of Jamaica’s southeast coast against cruel privations by their British colonial oppressors. You can read more about its origins and impact at the national archives website here.
Li Hongzhang and Lo Feng Luh Were Real Chinese Diplomats
The Chinese dignitaries who are guests of the Earl of Lonsdale in A Thousand Blows are based on real diplomats who served as part of a legation to London in the aftermath of the 19th century Opium Wars between Britain and China. You can see here an artist’s drawing of Lo Feng Luh (played by Chike Chan in the show), and here a contemporary newspaper report about the Chinese minister.
The 5th Earl of Lonsdale Was a Real Boxing Enthusiast
Hugh Cecil Lowther was a real English peer and sportsman during the period around which A Thousand Blows is set. He’s the “Lonsdale” behind the famous British sports brand of the same name, and was a founding member of the National Sporting Club who was said to have donated the very first Lonsdale Boxing Belts for the boxing championship trophy.
Aerialist “Miss La La” Was Real
The acrobat that Mary and Hezekiah see performing at a West End music hall is based on a real Black Polish historical figure, also named “Miss La La”. She performed on a swing high above crowds and her feats were recorded by painter Edgar Degas in his 1879 work “Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando.” She was the subject of an exhibition at London’s National Gallery in 2024, which you can read more about here.
Queen Victoria Did Have a Black Goddaughter
The A Thousand Blows character Victoria Davies must be inspired by the real Nigerian-born woman known as Sara “Sally” Forbes Bonetta (originally called Aina, before she was renamed by the English captain to whom she was “discharged” by enslaved people trader King Ghezo of Dahomey), who became Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. The timeline doesn’t quite match up as the real Aina died young of tuberculosis and didn’t survive into 1880 period in which A Thousand Blows is set, but it’s very close. See portraits of her here, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.
The Blue Coat Boy Pub, its Boxing Ring, and its Landlord Were Real
The Blue Coat Boy Pub had an MC who owned a boxing saloon nicknamed William “Punch” Lewis, just like Daniel Mays’ character in the TV show. Read more about them all here, thanks to the research of Sarah Elizabeth Cox.
