Clovis Salmon OBE esq- THE EARLY YEARS

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Clovis Constantine Salmon was born on April 13, 1927, in Baalbec, within the district of Nain, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica to parents. Tom Salmon, a farmer who passed away when Clovis was still a young child, and Emily Salmon (née Watson), who was a seamstress, farmer, and gardener. He was the youngest of 12 children. Six of his siblings passed away before he was born.

 He grew up with three sisters and two brothers. He grew up in a family that was heavily involved in the church, community, and education. His mum and dad owned a farm where Clovis and his family lived. His parents worked extremely hard to provide for their children. His mum owned a garden where she grew vegetables, flowers,

and sometimes fruits. He spent most of his time helping his parents at home or assisting his mum by walking to the market with her to sell the crops she grew in her garden. If his mum was not growing crops in her garden, she would also teach Sunday school. It was his upbringing in the church that would later have a massive impact on his life. In 1954 he met and married his childhood sweetheart and first wife, Daisy Salmon, in Baalbec St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.

When he was growing up, Jamaica was filled with plenty of factory jobs, but that later changed when factories began closing down and there was no longer employment. He later established his own bicycle shop in Jamaica where he would build and repair bicycles. In addition, he would also purchase bikes from wholesalers in Kingston, Jamaica. It was during these times of scarce work that his family moved to England in search of employment, and he decided to rethink what he would do. After World War II broke out, Britain requested people from the Commonwealth African and Caribbean countries to help rebuild war-torn Britain. His family and friends once upon hearing about the employment opportunities decided to relocate to Britain. After hearing that his friends and family had traveled to Britain.

A young Clovis Salmon bought a one-way ticket to the United Kingdom. He traveled by plane first to New York on the Jamaica International Airline, then from New York, he took a ship called R.M.S. Ascania to Plymouth and arrived in Britain on November 9, 1954.

When the ship docked at Plymouth he took a train to Stockwell, London where he met his cousin Victor Watson. He then traveled to the area that the agency in Kingston, Jamaica had given him authorization documents of where to stay in Brixton, London. Times were not easy for him and others. He was not able to buy a house or car when he first arrived. After he had arrived he had to go around looking for homes that advertisedrooms for rent. He had to stay in a house with four or five different individuals in one room.

Clovis Salmon later took on work as a wheel builder and was renowned for building a wheel in under a minute. Two years after arriving, he was able to save up the money he earned and bought his own home and minivan. His first job was at Claude Butler Bicycles on Clapham Manor Street. Not long afterwards, he started his own wheel-building business and became closely associated with his beloved, legendary ‘Brixton Cycles’ in South London. Tom Clifford, one of the founders of Brixton Cycles, said that “nobody built wheels as quick and nobody built them as strong.

When new family members also arrived in the United Kingdom, they stayed with him. He would drive them to the market to buy food so that they would not have to walk long distances. On Sundays, he would use his vehicle to transport family members to church. Mr. Salmon and his family would also travel long distances visiting pastors from other churches, where he would often set up his video camera and record the church services, baptisms, dedications, and funerals. He started documenting the evolution of Black British Caribbean church life with his Super 8 camera, starting at the Glad Tidings Church on Somerleyton Road, Brixton, where he served as a Deacon before moving on to the New Covenant Church of God in Brixton. His family would also travel to other churches in the United Kingdom to see guest

pastors from the United States, such as Reverend James Cleveland, who sang alongside Aretha Franklin on her Amazing Grace album, and Pastor Billy Graham. He also captured footage about major happenings within the Black community, like the Brixton Uprising in the 1980s.

It was his hobby as a videographer that led him to film the arrival of Windrush pioneers, church services in the United Kingdom, and teach other missionaries and pastors how to record church services in other countries using the camera he had given them when they travelled to Africa.

In the early '60s, other Windrush pioneers would hold church services in their homes until everyone saved up enough money to buy the supplies to build their own Pentecostal Church named Jesus Saves. He was a part-time pastor for the church Jesus Saves until he and the congregation were told to to take it down piece by piece.

In 1981, when the Brixton Protest broke out, he bravely risked his life by walking the streets of South London and the Front Line on Railton Road, videoing the Brixton Riot with a camera hidden inside his coat. It was his footage of the Brixton Protest that later caught the eye of the BBC and was then placed in a documentary. In 2022 a cycle monument was placed outside his home to honor the contributions that he made to the community and for his work.

Clovis and first wife, Daisy were devoted companions throughout their years together until their gentle parting in 1980. With Daisy he had 5 adored children. Clovis later met and married his second wife, Erma Alair Salmon (née Bailey), in March 1983. They remained together until her passing on May 8, 1997.

On August 5, 2000, Clovis married his third wife, Delores Salmon. They remained happily married until his recent passing.

Clovis resided in his beloved Brixton with Delores. He was a proud father of five children, grandfather to ten, and great-grandfather to many.