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POWERLIST 2008
my physics teacher, who had very high standards, wasn’t as pleased
as she might be with some homework I’d produced, and she said
to me: ‘coming from your family background I would expect you to
strive for higher things’. I was 12, and thought, ‘what is she talking
about?’ I went home and told my father and he said that people
expect the Casely-Hayfords to achieve more.
So was there an expectancy to follow in your grandfather’s
footsteps?
M: It wasn’t a great pressure, but just an understanding that we would
work hard, have support and achieve excellence in whatever we
did. My father left law and retrained as an accountant, not following
his father and older brother into the family chambers in Accra or
into politics. In so doing, he freed our generation to make our own
choices.
On my fi rst day at John Lewis one of the security guards said
to me, ‘You’re a Casely-Hayford. My son is doing some history and
came across your grandfather.’ He told me that he was so pleased
and would tell his son that he had met his [Casely-Hayford’s]
grandaughter. It makes one feel so proud that he also infl uences
people who are not related to him.
How would you assess your law career thus far?
M: I’ve had to work hard. According to the Law Society, I was the
fi rst black female partner in the City. I was very aware of being... not
a pioneer, but at the vanguard. You work hard so others don’t think,
‘oh, black people can’t cope’ and so that people coming behind you
have a future. It’s not a torch, but something that I was aware of.
Joe: ‘I don’t think there’s
Joe, you’ve been the most high-profi le member of the family over
a family agenda for us
the years. Has that come with its own pressures?
J: Not at all. I’m a pretty understated character, not interested in
being a high-profi le fashion designer. I’m just interested in my work
to conquer the earth’
and craft. I have a great deal of respect for what the other guys are
doing. I don’t think there’s a family agenda for us to conquer the
earth. We’re interested in our work and were always brought up to Gus, you went some way to conquering Britain with Africa 05...
strive for excellence. G: I never dreamt that it would become so successful. It was
more about the good faith of the arts community. The idea of an
individual coming and saying give up the whole British Museum
Augustus
to do ‘x and y’ and for them to deliver, that was pretty amazing.
A lot of people have been banging on the door of diversity in the
cultural sector and haven’t necessarily had great success, but the
timing was absolutely right and I was very, very fortunate.
M: [to Gus] But it was a very hard thing to do. You got people from
every single medium interested in the concept, to the point where
they would do ‘x’ for you. To get the passion and interest, to get
that feat of organisation in itself was immense. I was so amazed by
it and very proud [of you].
How involved are you in each other’s careers?
G: I try as much as I can to be aware of my siblings’ professional
activities. But they’re so talented in a spectrum of different ways
and it’s diffi cult to keep hold of those narratives. I know Margaret
was on the Special Trustee Board of Great Ormond Street
Hospital’s Charity and I hear about great things they do. I’ve got
involved a bit with the hospital as a result. I do think it’s wonderful
to be related to such people. But they’re also incredibly modest
about it.
M: There’s no structured interference in each other’s careers.
We’re all just very proud of one another. But it would be great if
we could work on something together. That would just be the best
thing ever. I would love that so much. I keep racking my brain for
the project that we can work on. It will come – at some point.
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