Treasures triumph over a troubled past
Would It Surprise You To Know...?
Ronnie Archer-morgan Century, £16.99
Antiques Roadshow has taught us never to take our most treasured possessions at face value – and the same might be said of Roadshow expert Ronnie Archer-morgan.
Ronnie exudes confidence, his knowledge is encyclopedic, his curiosity infectious. Who could guess at the awful hardships he has endured?
Ronnie’s frank, unsentimental memoir is an eye opener. As he tells his story through desirable objects connected to his past, we discover his passion for vintage luggage, Cartier watches, African art and much more. More importantly, he shares harrowing details of his childhood.
Ronnie’s mother Elizabeth had abandoned a husband and family in Sierra Leone to start a new life with white British engineer Ronald who was then killed in a car crash.
Elizabeth was left pregnant and alone in 1940s Liverpool. She came to regard Ronnie as the embodiment of all her disappointments.
He was punished for the slightest misdemeanour – beaten with a chair leg, whipped with a cord, humiliated and degraded. The punishments were “for his own good” and their intensity increased in direct relationship to his mother’s failing mental health. His only respite came in spells at a children’s home or holidays with a kindly foster family.
Adulthood brought its own miseries. As a black man in 1960s London, Ronnie felt the full force of the prejudice and racism of the period. It is a testimony to his strength of character that he rose above the verbal and physical abuse he suffered.
The brutal details of his treatment are balanced by acts of kindness, the support of friends and some remarkable twists of fate.
He has an uncanny knack of landing on his feet as he became a celebrity hairdresser (his clients included Sandie Shaw and Hayley Mills) and a pioneer DJ in the coolest London clubs. His love of luxury items and joy in collecting tipped into trading, then developed into a lasting career as an antiques expert.
He has had a string of brushes with celebrity from drinking with Marvin
Gaye to securing Catherine Deneuve as a jewellery client.
There is so much more to Ronnie than meets the eye. Reading everything he has overcome and all that he has achieved gives you a deeper, richer understanding of the man and why he finally feels able to count his blessings.