18th Century

New articles – Black History Month 2025

We have new articles this month from regular contributors, John Ellis and Audrey Dewjee. The fact we are in Black History Month is purely coincidental, at Historycal Roots, every month is Black History Month!

John tells us of three more Black soldiers in World War One.

Lance-Corporal Joseph AW Peterson, Hampshire Regiment, service No.17350

I know that John was irritated by criticism of the film 1917 when it was released in 2019. It garnered high praise for its technical brilliance (seemingly shot in one continuous take although, in fact, there were some barely noticeable edits), and for its unvarnished depiction of the horror of war. One reviewer said:

This film is overwhelming. I have nothing further to add, other than the compelling need for eternal remembrance to those who sacrificed their lives in any way, we can not fathom.

But there were those who criticised the ‘unrealistic’ inclusion of Black and Asian soldiers which allegedly arose from a need to appear ‘woke’:

All movie producers these days are under pressure to kneel before the “Woke” generation and showcase minorities, even if it couldn’t have happened.

When I asked Google A1 about this I got the following response:

The 2019 film ‘1917’ features black soldiers, but their presence with integrated British infantry units was largely an artistic choice to reflect that the war was a global conflict, rather than an accurate depiction of military integration at the time While black soldiers did serve in the war, they were typically in separate units or labor corps, with a few exceptions like Walter Tull, a black officer in the Middlesex Regiment.

Sadly more and more people will get their ‘history’ filtered by AI rather than from the whole series of articles that John has written on the subject. AI can be helpful, of course, but clearly there are huge risks if we come to rely on it.

John’s latest article is here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/three-black-soldiers-in-world-war-one/

Not content with that, John has also written about Private C Calvert, who served in the Middlesex Regiment in WW1. We would not know of Private Calvert were it not for a very brief item that appeared in the Daily Mirror on 1^st September 1915:

https://www.historycalroots.com/private-c-calvert-of-the-middlesex-regiment-in-ww1/

And, John has also found time to write about yet another Black soldier in World War One. You can read about Michael Cipriani here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/trooper-michael-cipriani-a-coloured-trinidadian-in-the-life-guards-during-the-first-world-war/

Audrey takes us further back into British history, to the proclamation issued by the Lord Mayor of London on 14^th September 1731:

‘for the future no Negroes or other Blacks be suffered to be bound apprentices at any of the Companies of this City’.

As you will read, the Aldermen of the City of London were clearly having second thoughts about granting the Freedom of the City of London just one week earlier to John Satia. Originally from Barbados, Satia had been brought to England as a servant and subsequently served an apprenticeship. Completing the apprenticeship ‘entitled’ him to the Freedom of the City, which was duly granted on 14^th September 1731.

Keen that London shouldn’t have it all its own way, Audrey introduces us to John Moore who gained the Freedom of York even earlier, on 29^th September 1687. As freemen these men would have been entitled to vote in General Elections and may well have done so.

You can read Audrey’s article here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/early-black-freemen-and-voters-john-satia-john-london-and-john-moore/

Enjoy reading these articles and remember, the next Black History Month – November 2025 – is just days away!

Still Hidden? Black and Asian History in the Yorkshire Dales

On 19^th May I gazed out of a train window and wondered why I was making the journey. I was heading towards the market town of Hawes, deep in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. I mused that in the time it was taking to get to Hawes from south London, well over four hours, I could have reached the capital city of virtually any European country (Nicosia, Cyprus would have taken longer but that’s about it I think).

I had never visited the Dales before but when I heard that Audrey Dewjee was delivering a talk on the hidden Black and Asian history of the area it had seemed like a good opportunity to rectify the omission. But I was having second thoughts as I watched the countryside roll past. The view was nice, the sheep looked contented as they grazed their way towards someone’s Sunday dinner table, but could there really be much Black and Asian history hidden here?

When I first started taking an interest in this history, I had the pre-conceived notion that it could be found in London, Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff, obviously, and perhaps some other urban centres too, but with the help of expert guides (like Audrey and John Ellis) my understanding has blossomed. Historycal Roots describes itself as an educational site, well, it has certainly educated me!

Is there Black and Asian history hidden in the Yorkshire Dales? Undoubtedly, and Audrey’s talk did not disappoint. It demonstrated clearly that there is Black history everywhere if you open your eyes and take the trouble to look for it. She has kindly shared her talk with us and you can read it here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/still-hidden-black-and-asian-history-in-the-yorkshire-dales/

Lists and Black British History

Lists, we all make them – shopping lists, ‘to do’ lists that never seem to get any shorter (come to think of it, that seems to apply to shopping lists too in this household!).

In his latest article, John Ellis draws attention to the lists that a historian with an interest in Black British history might draw on, they include: enslaved people (on vessels and in plantations); muster lists of Black Loyalists (from the American War of Independence); and liberated people (‘The Book of Negroes’, 1783). I would add to that the lists of the London Black poor compiled by the authorities in the 1780s and lists of names of men, women and children transported to Australia – lists that between them contain thousands of names. Names but, usually, little else. Each name on any of these lists represents a human being, they each lived a life and had some sort of story to tell but we rarely have any idea what their story was. A list captured their name in a moment in time and that was it.

I have looked at these lists myself at various times and have sometimes wondered about the possibility of finding the same person in more than one of them – that might start to piece together a life story. To do that requires patience, determination and a good slice of luck. I have never really had the first (or second) of those in sufficient quantity to get past the ‘wondering’ stage. Fortunately, John Ellis is made of sterner stuff:

For over twenty five years I have been compiling a database of Black soldiers who served in the Crown (or ‘King’s’) regiments of the British Army in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Very occasionally, an individual can be identified on more than one list. Daniel Green is one such individual.

One man, two lists and beginnings of a coherent life story. You can read about Daniel Green here: https://www.historycalroots.com/a-black-loyalist-drummer-daniel-green-of-charleston-south-carolina-and-the-38th-the-1st-staffordshire-regiment-of-foot-from-1783-to-1801/

Where was Olaudah Equiano/Gustavas Vassa Born?

The question of where Olaudah Equiano / Gustavus Vassa was born has long been a subject of scholarly debate. There is conflicting evidence pointing to an area in modern-day Nigeria and the slave plantations of South Carolina. I recall being challenged on this when I was taking people round an exhibition in London.^[1]https://www.historycalroots.com/equiano-2019/ I inadvertently referred to Equiano having been born in what is now part of Nigeria without mentioning any alternative possibility. It is a subject that can generate heated discussion!

If we accept South Carolina as his birthplace then the ‘Interesting Narrative’ has to be seen as a work of imaginative fiction (albeit a well researched one) rather than an auto-biography of a real person – having read the book, that has always seemed somewhat far-fetched to me.

One of the main supporters of the ‘Nigeria’ theory is Professor Paul Lovejoy and he has recently re-visited the subject:

WHERE WAS EQUIANO BORN

It is more ‘academic’ than much of the material we publish on this site but offers a very readable account of the subject. Much as the professor may hope this is the ‘definitive’ answer, I strongly suspect the debate will go on.

References[+]

References
↑1	https://www.historycalroots.com/equiano-2019/

Equiano unveiled

How time flies! We were reminded at the ceremony in central London to unveil a plaque commemorating Olaudah Equiano, that our research in 2018 contributed in a small way to identifying his final resting place. A ceremony at the American Church in Goodge Street, London, on 15^th June 2024 was attended by many of the ‘great and good’ and somehow we snuck in too! Hosted by Reverend Jennifer Mills-Knutsen on behalf of the church and Arthur Torrington of the Equiano Society, there was poetry from Nairobi Thompson and readings from Equiano’s ‘Interesting Narrative’ by actor, Burt Caesar.

For us, the story began with a visit to the London Metropolitan Archives where we were able to examine the register of burials at the non-conformist chapel in Goodge Street for the years 1796-1808. The name Gustavus Vassa (as Equiano was known for most of his adult life) was there, showing his burial on 6^th April 1797.

Ever since then, Arthur Torrington has been working with the church and Camden Local Authority to have a plaque put in place to commemorate the site of Equiano’s burial (the burial ground has long since been paved over and only a few traces of its original function survive).

After the speeches we assembled outside for the blessing and unveiling.

‘Searcher of hearts, God of Providence,
bless this memorial of your servant Olaudah Equiano, Gustavus Vassa,
that this acknowledgement of his original resting place in death
would inspire those who live today.’

The plaque is prominently placed, turn left out of Goodge Street station and you can’t miss it.

Six years is a long time but congratulations to Arthur and the Equiano Society for persevering and getting the job done!

New discoveries: Black soldiers in Edinburgh 1792-1848

New discoveries cause us to constantly revise our thoughts about history in general and Black British history in particular. More and more records are being digitised and made available online and these lead to new finds and deeper understanding.

Regular contributor, John D Ellis, recently stumbled across a set of data he had never seen before. Careful analysis of the Army attestation registers for Edinburgh, has enabled John to identify the names of over forty Black soldiers who enlisted in British Army regiments between 1792 and 1848 in the city of Edinburgh alone. John makes the point that if such a register was maintained in Edinburgh, similar registers must have been kept in other cities – where are they and what would they reveal about the Black presence in Britain?

We first became aware of John’s work when he spoke at an event we attended in Huddersfield in 2018, what he had to say about the presence of Black soldiers in the British Army in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries opened our eyes to an area of black British history that we had been largely unaware of. Since then, our understanding of the Black presence, in terms of both numbers and geographical spread, has come on in leaps and bounds. Working on this site and becoming aware of the work of John, Audrey Dewjee, Ray Costello and many others has been an educational experience for us and, we hope, for you too.

You can read John’s article here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/black-soldiers-and-edinburgh-c-1792-1848/

The Royal Academy, London: Entangled Pasts 1768 to now

This exhibition brings together several of our favourite paintings under one roof. As the mini guide says:

‘Entangled Pasts explores connections between art associated with the Royal Academy and Britain’s colonial histories.’

The mini guide handed to visitors and free audio guide draw out the associations and the full catalogue contains an excellent introductory essay. You can buy the catalogue from the RA shop, it is pricey (as these things always are) but it is beautifully illustrated and gives a real flavour of the exhibition:

https://shop.royalacademy.org.uk/entangled-pasts-1768-now-art-colonialism-and-change

To whet your appetite here are just a few of the paintings on display.

Ignatius Sancho is believed to have been the first Black man to vote in a British Parliamentary election and in 1768 Thomas Gainsborough painted this portrait of him.

Sancho was a man of letters, as was Ottobah Cugoano and a selection of his manuscripts was on display:

Better still, the exhibition also includes the only known image of Cugoano, an etching on paper (now attributed to Thomas Rowlandson) dating from c1784 or c1790. Cugoano was employed for a time as a servant by Richard and Maria Cosway and this depicts him in that role.

‘The Head of a Negro‘ by John Singleton Copley was painted in 1777/78 and the subject matter is extremely unusual, at this time biblical scenes or paintings of great battles were the general order of the day. Although Copley had been the owner of enslaved people, this man, whose name, regrettably, is not recorded, is painted with evident respect for his humanity:

These images were previously known to us but a lot of others were not, including this one, a detail taken from a painting by Zoffany, ‘Colonel Blair and his Family and an Indian Ayah’. The catalogue of the exhibition points out that the girl looks too young to be an Ayah (nanny) and is more likely to have been the daughter of an Ayah or an illegitimate daughter of Colonel Blair. We are grateful to Audrey Dewjee for pointing out that Zoffany was in India in 1786 when this was painted.

There are many, many more exhibits to enjoy but we will finish with, Dido Elizabeth Belle, who in many ways was the inspiration that led us to start this site in 2015/16. It was painted in 1779 by David Martin, the previous attribution to Zoffany is now believed to be wrong. To think we travelled to Scone Palace, Perth to see this painting! Our visit was in 2014, before its importance was fully recognised by its owners and we found it hung in a rather obscure corner of a guest bedroom.

The exhibition is on until 28^th April and, if you are in London and can spare the time, we can thoroughly recommend it.

Roots entwined

Audrey Dewjee’s latest contribution to Historycal Roots is of particular interest to us and we hope you will find it enlightening too. Audrey has chosen the title ‘Roots entwined’ for the article and in it she explores the history of inter-racial marriage in her home county of Yorkshire.

The earliest mixed marriage she mentions in the article took place in Deptford, London, in 1613, but, as she puts it, ‘Yorkshire eventually caught up.’ She goes on to mention the marriage of John Quashee and Rebecca Crosby at Thornton by Pocklington on 12^s. November 1732.

St Michael’s church, Pocklington, the site of John and Rebecca’s wedding?

Audrey goes on to cite 18^th, 19^th and 20^th century examples. One of her 19^th century Yorkshire marriages features John Perry, a Black man born in Annapolis in Nova Scotia in about 1819, who married in Ripon in 1844 and ended his days in Sydney, Australia, having been transported to the penal colony. As an illustration of how ‘entwined’ these stories can become, John Perry has featured in an earlier Historycal Roots article by John Ellis which Audrey references.

Of course, similar stories can be found in virtually any part of the country and there must be people who are puzzled by the results they get back from a DNA test. As Audrey says ‘colour fades quickly if [mixed heritage] children and grandchildren have White partners … and gradually the memory of a Black ancestor fades,’ something my wife and I are only too aware of as we watch our grandson growing up.

Audrey’s article is here:

https://www.historycalroots.com/roots-entwined-inter-racial-families-in-yorkshire/

Unforgotten Lives: An exhibition at the London Metropolitan Archives

I recently visited the ‘Unforgotten Lives’ exhibition at the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell. If you live in London or visit any time before 27th March 2024, the exhibition is well worth a look. Some of the stories may be relatively familiar (Olaudah Equiano, Ignatius Sancho, Dido Elizabeth Belle, etc) others will be new to just about everyone.

The story of John Satia was one I wasn’t familiar with. Born on Barbados in c1689, he was enslaved and brought to London when he was about two years old by Thomas Gerrard, a merchant.

Nothing is known of John’s early years in London but in 1725 he completed a seven year apprenticeship as a joiner and was admitted to the Worshipful Company of Joiners. In 1729 Thomas Gerrard died and left John an annuity of £10. On 7^th September 1731 John’s application to become a Freeman of the City of London was considered by the Aldermen and was accepted, this allowed him to take on apprentices of his own and expand his business.

Just seven days later the Aldermen who considered the application (most of whom had links with the trade in enslaved people or with the East India Company) met again and decided that henceforth Black people were to be prohibited from obtaining Freedom of the City. This marked a new phase in the development of institutional racism. Although there is evidence that John was able to continue trading others were denied the opportunity to follow in his footsteps.

John Satia died in 1753 and was buried at St James, Clerkenwell.^[1]https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/unforgotten-lives-exhibition

If you do visit the exhibition why not visit Spa Fields, scene of riots in 1816, directly across the road from the Archives. Now a pleasant public park, it is the ideal place for a sandwich on a sunny day, although it is hard to reconcile the neat and tidy park of today with its tumultuous past.

References[+]

References
↑1	https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/unforgotten-lives-exhibition

Three fragments of history

It’s nice when you can tell the whole story but sometimes it isn’t possible and all you have is a fragment, insignificant in its own right but, combined with other fragments, they can contribute in a small way to a bigger picture. We know next to nothing about William Heywood, George Dony or Johnson Freeman other than that two were servants and one was a former seaman – but research by John Ellis has identified all three as black men who were living in England at the time of their deaths in the 18^th/19^th century. In the case of Freeman Johnson our knowledge of him comes mainly from a rather graphic description of his sad death.

Fragments are frustrating but can sometimes develop into something more significant – John has written the fascinating story of a black nurse in Victorian England and we will be bringing that to you shortly.

William Heywood

From the Leeds Intelligencer, 7^th March 1780:

Saturday died at Liverpool, in the 79^th years of his age, Thomas Crowder, Esq; formerly a Jamaica merchant, where he acquired a large fortune; and on Tuesday last died, his faithful Black Servant, who had served him upwards of twenty years.

William Heywood “a black servant to Thomas Crowder, Esq. deceased, (of) Water Street” died on the 29^th of February and was buried at St Nicholas Church, Liverpool on the 2^nd of March 1790. (‘Our Lady and St Nicholas’ in the parish of Liverpool). The church is one in which a number of baptismal, marriage and burial records belonging to the Black population of Liverpool have been identified, including George Wise a Nova Scotian veteran of the Peninsula Campaign.

Thomas Crowder of Liverpool (1701-1780) was one of the founder members of the ‘African Company of Merchants’ in 1752. As such he was involved in the trade in enslaved people. He died on the 26^th of February and was buried at the Church of St Nicholas, Liverpool on the 1^st of March 1780.^[1]Sources: For William Heywood see: Leeds Intelligencer, 7th March 1780. findmypast.co.uk Bishop’s Transcripts. Dr/2/59. Liverpool, Lancashire. Lancashire Archives. ancestry.co.uk For Thomas … Continue reading

George Edward Doney of Cassiobury House

Cassiobury House^[2]https://victoriaalexander.com/notes-extras-and-fun-stuff/cassiobury-house/

From the Sun (London), 7^th September 1809:

On Monday, at Cashiobury-House (Cassiobury House, Watford), the seat of the Earl of Essex, George Donney, a black servant belonging to his Lordship, who had lived in the family upward of 4 years.

George Edward Doney was buried at St Mary’s Church, Watford on the 8^th of September 1809. He was described as a “Widower, Negro Servant to the Earl of Essex”. A search of both ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk has failed to find further reference to George Edward Doney or any relatives.

George Capel-Coningsbury (1757-1839) was the 5^th Earl of Essex (1799-1839). His first wife, Sarah Thompson (nee’ Bazett, 1759-1838), had been born on St Helena, which may provide some clue as to the origins of George Edward Doney but his gravestone tells a different story.

George Edward Doney c1758 – 1809 worked as a servant for 44 years at Cassiobury House. The inscription on his gravestone reveals that he was captured from Gambia as a child and sold into slavery

Poor Edward blest the pirate bark that bore His captive infancy from Gambia’s shore To where in willing servitude he won Those blest rewards for every duty done.

Kindness and praise, the wages of the heart, none else to him could joy or pride impart, And gave him, born a pagan and a slave, a freeman’s charter, and a Christian’s grave.

The Earl and his wife resided in the ancestral home of the Earls of Essex at Cassiobury House, Cassiobury Park.^[3]Sources: Sun (London), 7^th September 1809. findmypast.co.uk Family Transcriptions © Hertfordshire & Population History Society. Hertfordshire Burials. findmypast.co.uk

Freeman Johnson, a Black Merchant Seaman, 1825-1848

From the South Eastern Gazette, 25^th April 1848:

CORONER’S INQUEST.- On Saturday last an inquest was held at the Lunatic Asylum, Barming-heath, before F.F. Dally, Esq., on the body of Freeman Johnson, a man of colour, aged 23, who had been an inmate of the Asylum since the 11th inst., having been sent from the Greenwich union house. It appeared that the deceased was in a very weak state, when admitted, and was found by Robert Jones, a keeper, at about nine o’clock on the evening on the 13 th , quite dead, with his face hanging over the side of the bedstead, and blood oozing from the mouth and nose. He was last seen alive by George Baker, a keeper, at about half-past six on the same evening, when he refused his supper, but said he was in no pain. Dr Huxley, who had made a post-mortem examination, deposed that the deceased was suffocated by the flow of blood arising from a rupture of one (of) the vessels of the lungs, which were much diseased. Verdict accordingly.

Freeman Johnson was born at Nassau in the Bahamas in 1825. He
registered as a British Merchant Seaman either in 1845 or sometime
shortly after. Freeman Johnson was interred at All Saints Church,
Maidstone on the 18^th of April 1848.^[4]Sources: TNA BT114/12. findmypast.co.uk South Eastern Gazette, 25^th April 1848. findmypast.co.uk Burial: Maidstone All Saints burials, 1838-1907. Kent Burials. findmypast.co.uk

References[+]

References
↑1	Sources: For William Heywood see: Leeds Intelligencer, 7^th March 1780. findmypast.co.uk Bishop’s Transcripts. Dr/2/59. Liverpool, Lancashire. Lancashire Archives. ancestry.co.uk For Thomas Crowder see: England Deaths & Burials, 1538-1991. Index © IRI. Used by permission of FamilySearch Intl. findmypast.co.uk Bishop’s Transcripts. Dr/2/59. Liverpool, Lancashire. Lancashire Archives. ancestry.co.uk For George Wise see: www.historycalroots.com/george-wise-from-nova-scotia-to-liverpool-via-the-battlefields-of-the-napoleonic-wars/
↑2	https://victoriaalexander.com/notes-extras-and-fun-stuff/cassiobury-house/
↑3	Sources: Sun (London), 7^th September 1809. findmypast.co.uk Family Transcriptions © Hertfordshire & Population History Society. Hertfordshire Burials. findmypast.co.uk
↑4	Sources: TNA BT114/12. findmypast.co.uk South Eastern Gazette, 25^th April 1848. findmypast.co.uk Burial: Maidstone All Saints burials, 1838-1907. Kent Burials. findmypast.co.uk