Born in Igbanke village on modern day Edo State in 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Pa Emare, has lived in Britain since 1940. Both his parents died when he was young and after learning a trade as a blacksmith he bought and sold prayer mats to make ends meet, travelling to Ghana to do so.
A book about Mr Emare’s life, entitled The Long Journey of Pa David Emare, written by community leader Emmanuel Nwene-Osuh, is out now. Pa Emare's son Christopher, said his dad is the oldest surviving African in Manchester which is a feat in itself.
At the age of 26, Pa Emare sailed to Britain in search of a new life in 1940 after the Second World War broke out and the ship he travelled on docked in Edinburgh that winter. Despite his lack of a formal education, he found a job at Bradford Gasworks and later worked for salvage company Goldberg on Oxford Road, where he worked for 55 years until his retirement, travelling the length and breadth of the UK during that time.
Pa Emare said: “It was night time and heavy snow was falling down and I thought it was sugar. The immigration office sent me to Newcastle and from there I was told to go to Manchester.
“They said you’ll see many of your African country people there. In those days it was not too nice but it is changing now.”
According to Pa Emare, he settled in Manchester, although he recalls he was not always made welcome. As well as enduring racist insults, black people were banned from many places like the old Salford Racecourse.
Pa Emare met his partner Alma Howard through mutual friends in 1958 and went on to have four children with her. They are Helen, 55; Godwin, 52; Christopher, 50 and Paula, 49; as well as raising her eldest, Carol, as his own.
As a couple, they were together for 18 years before separating, but remain good friends. Pa Emare, who still lives independently in Fallowfield, also has a son in Nigeria as well as several grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren in both countries.
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