Memorial to Mahomet Weyonomon
A granite sculpture beside Southwark Cathedral honouring a Mohegan chief who died in London seeking justice for his people.
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The lowdown
In the green churchyard beside Southwark Cathedral lies a low sculpted block of pink granite honouring Mahomet Weyonomon, a sachem, or chief, of the Mohegan people of what is now Connecticut. In 1735 he sailed to London to petition King George II over land taken from his people, but he caught smallpox and died before he could be granted an audience, and was buried in an unmarked grave because non-Christians could not be buried in the City.
The memorial, unveiled in 2006 in the presence of Mohegan representatives, finally marks his story. It is free to visit, a quiet and moving acknowledgement of a man who crossed an ocean for justice and never went home.
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