Black voices on britain, p.1
Black Voices on Britain, page 1
Contents
Introduction
JAMES GRONNIOSAW A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, as Related by Himself
IGNATIUS SANCHO Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho
OLAUDAH EQUIANO The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
OTTOBAH CUGOANO Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species
BOSTON KING Memoirs of the Life of Boston King, A Black Preacher
MARY PRINCE The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave
MARY SEACOLE Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands
LINDA BRENT Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
FREDERICK DOUGLASS My Bondage and My Freedom
WILLIAM WELLS BROWN The American Fugitive in Europe: Sketches of Places and People Abroad
A. B. C. MERRIMAN-LABOR Britons Through Negro Spectacles
PETER STANFORD From Bondage to Liberty
J. E. CASELY HAYFORD Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation
SARAH PARKER REMOND Letter to the Editor of the London Daily News
THEODORE THOMAS Hard Truth
JOHN OCANSEY An African Trading, Or the Trials of William Narh Ocansey, of Addah, West Coast of Africa, River Volta
W. E. B. DU BOIS London
Introduction
HAKIM ADI
What was it like to be a Black person in Britain in the eighteenth or nineteenth century? A difficult question to answer perhaps, since it was undoubtedly dependent on whether an individual was enslaved or free, rich or poor, male or female, literate or illiterate. It also depended on whether someone was born in Britain or arrived as a colonial ‘subject’ from the Caribbean or Africa, or as a fugitive from North America. It may be said that there were as many experiences as there were visitors and residents, and there were certainly thousands of both. Unfortunately, although we know something about the lives of Black people during this period, we know very little about what they thought of their experience of living in Britain. Some were literate, but many others left no record. What we have are merely the published writings of a few men and even fewer women.
Today we might think that the existence of racism, a consequence of enslavement and colonialism, produced some common experiences. Ignatius Sancho, the eighteenth-century African composer and distinguished man of letters, spent almost his entire life in Britain, but once referred to himself as ‘only a lodger – and hardly that’, as if to emphasize that he still didn’t feel he belonged. Others, such as James Gronniosaw, an African prince who had formerly been enslaved, ‘expected to find nothing but goodness, gentleness and meekness in this Christian Land’, and was rather disappointed by the reality. Even Mary Seacole, the celebrated heroine of the Crimea War, recalled that of her first impressions of Britain in the early nineteenth century, ‘some of the most vivid of my recollections are the efforts of the London street-boys to poke fun at my and my companion’s complexion.’
Yet many celebrated African Americans who came to Britain not much later remarked on how free of racism their experiences in Britain were compared to those they had left behind in the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave.’ The fugitive Frederick Douglass wrote of his experiences at an English stately home, ‘When the door was opened, I walked in, on an equal footing with my white fellow-citizens, and from all I could see, I had as much attention paid me by the servants that showed us through the house, as any with a paler skin.’ William Wells Brown, another African American fugitive, remarked, ‘the prejudice which I have experienced on all and every occasion in the United States, and to some extent on board the Canada, vanished as soon as I set foot on the soil of Britain.’
Africans and those of African descent have been visiting Britain for many centuries, probably for a thousand years before the Roman conquerors. Yet it is only in relatively recent times that we have written examples of their views and concerns, and few of these are accounts of their experiences of Britain. This anthology aims to present some of these experiences as recorded by those of African, Caribbean and African American heritage, who resided in or visited Britain. Some of the authors included – such as the abolitionist and writer Olaudah Equiano, Mary Seacole and African American scholar–activist W. E. B. Du Bois – are now well-known personalities, widely recognized for their wider contributions to society, as well as for their literary prowess. Others, like Mary Prince, held as a slave in London in the early 1830s, the editor S. J. Celestine Edwards and John Ocansey, a visitor from the Gold Coast, may be less well known, but their observations and recollections are equally fascinating.
What all these authors have in common is that they described their experiences of Britain in their writing. Some extracts are taken from well-known autobiographies such as The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African and Seacole’s Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, but also included are extracts from works of fiction, such as J. E. Casely Hayford’s Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation and Celestine Edward’s satirical work Hard Truth, which presents an entirely fictional account of a discussion between Christ and the Devil. Also included are articles published in the press from Du Bois and Sarah Parker Remond, as well as letters from Ignatius Sancho.
One of the obvious characteristics shared by these writers is that they were all published. Although some were first published in the United States, the majority were published in Britain – itself a significant achievement. It is one thing to have something to say, yet another to find someone who is willing to publish it. What is more, several of the publications were clearly undertaken for overtly political reasons, including the work of Olaudah Equiano, James Gronniosaw, Mary Prince and Ignatius Sancho. Although Sancho’s letters were published posthumously, this was evidently done to show ‘that an untutored African may possess abilities equal to an European’, an aim as openly political as that connected with the publications of the life histories of the other three who were formerly enslaved. Gronniosaw and Prince dictated their autobiographies to scribes, but Equiano was clearly a talented, largely self-taught writer – one of the first to develop a new literary genre, the ‘slave narrative’. This form of abolitionist propaganda was then further developed by several African American writers featured here, including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs and William Wells Brown, who, like Equiano, wrote best-selling autobiographies.
Some of the writing featured here does not fall into any established genre, and its publication is thus even more significant and fascinating. This is particularly the case with A. B. C. Merriman-Labor’s satirical sketch of Britons Through Negro Spectacles and the fictionalized dialogue between Christ and the Devil regarding the ills of Britain’s racism and imperialism in Hard Truth; this book’s approach is all the more surprising given that its author, generally considered to be S. J. Celestine Edwards, was a devout Christian evangelist and a lay preacher.
Whatever their differences or similarities, all of the individuals included tell us something significant and thought-provoking about their experiences of life in Britain.
JAMES GRONNIOSAW
Born into royalty in the kingdom of Bornu (today northern Nigeria), James Albert Gronniosaw (c.1705–1775) became the first African writer in England when his Narrative, or autobiography, was published in Bath in 1772. Tricked into enslavement, he was transported to Barbados and then New York, where he was freed after the death of his owner. He later served in the navy and army before arriving in England, where he married a widowed silk weaver. His Narrative was recorded for him ‘by the elegant pen of a young lady from Leominster’ for her private satisfaction, but subsequently published ‘to serve Albert and his distressed family.’ These narratives were autobiographical accounts, which related at first hand the experience of slavery and liberation. This extract presents evidence of Gronniosaw’s strong Calvinistic faith, his first impressions of England and his future wife, as well as the impoverished existence, unemployment and many challenges he faced.
A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, as Related by Himself
I was then worth about thirty pounds, but I never regarded money in the least, nor would I tarry for my prize-money least I should lose my chance of going to England. I went with the Spanish prisoners to Spain; and came to Old-England with the English prisoners. I cannot describe my joy when we were within sight of Portsmouth. But I was astonished when we landed to hear the inhabitants of that place curse and swear and otherwise profane. I expected to find nothing but goodness, gentleness and meekness in this Christian land, I then suffered great perplexities of mind.
I enquired if any serious Christian people resided there, the woman I made this enquiry of, answered me in the affirmative; and added that she was one of them. I was heartily glad to hear her say so. I thought I could give her my whole heart; she kept a public house. I deposited with her all the money that I had not an immediate occasion for; as I thought it would be safer with her.—It was 25 guineas but 6 of them I desired her to lay out to the best advantage, to buy me some shirts, a hat and some other necessaries. I made her a present of a very handsome large looking glass that I brought with me from Martinico, in order to recompence her for the trouble I had given her. I must do this woman the justice to acknowledge that she did lay out some little for my use, bu
I soon perceived that I was got among bad people, who defrauded me of my money and watch; and that all my promised happiness was blasted. I had no friend but GOD and I prayed to him earnestly. I could scarcely believe it possible that the place where so many eminent Christians had lived and preached could abound with so much wickedness and deceit. I thought it worse than Sodom (considering the great advantage they have). I cried like a child, and that almost continually: at length GOD heard my prayers, and raised me a friend indeed.
This publican had a brother who lived on Portsmouth-Common, his wife was a very serious good woman.—When she heard of the treatment I had met with, she came and enquired into my real situation, and was greatly troubled at the ill usage I had received, and took me home to her own house. I began now to rejoice, and my prayer was turned into praise. She made use of all the arguments in her power to prevail on her who had wronged me to return my watch and money, but it was to no purpose, as she had given me no receipt, and I had nothing to shew for it, I could not demand it. My good friend was excessively angry with her, and obliged her to give me back four guineas, which she said she gave me out of charity; though in fact it was my own and much more. She would have employed some rougher means to oblige her to give up my money, but I would not suffer her, let it go, says I, “My GOD is in heaven.” Still I did not mind my loss in the least; all that grieved me was, that I had been disappointed in finding some Christian friends, with whom I hoped to enjoy a little sweet and comfortable society.
I thought the best method that I could take now, was to go to London, and find out Mr. Whitefield, who was the only living soul I knew in England, and get him to direct me how to procure a living without being troublesome to any person. I took leave of my Christian friend at Portsmouth, and went in the stage to London. A creditable tradesman in the city, who went up with me in the stage, offered to shew me the way to Mr. Whitefield’s tabernacle. Knowing that I was a perfect stranger, I thought it very kind, and accepted his offer; but he obliged me to give him half a crown for going with me, and likewise insisted on my giving him five shillings more for conducting me to Dr. Gifford’s meeting.
I began now to entertain a very different idea of the inhabitants of England, than what I had figured to myself before I came among them. Mr. Whitefield received me very friendly, was heartily glad to see me, and directed me to a proper place to board and lodge in Petticoat lane, till he could think of some way to settle me in, and paid for my lodging, and all my expences. The morning after I came to my new lodging, as I was at breakfast with the gentlewoman of the house, I heard the noise of some looms over our heads; I enquired what it was, she told me a person was weaving silk. I expressed a great desire to see it, and asked if I might? She told me she would go up with me, and she was sure I should be very welcome. She was as good as her word, and as soon as we entered the room, the person that was weaving looked about, and smiled upon us, and I loved her from that moment. She asked me many questions; and I in return talked a great deal to her. I found she was a member of Mr. Allen’s meeting, and I begun to entertain a good opinion of her, though I was almost afraid to indulge this inclination, least she should prove like all the rest I had met with at Portsmouth, &c. and which had almost given me a dislike to all white women. But after a short acquaintance I had the happiness to find she was very different, and quite sincere, and I was not without hopes that she entertained some esteem for me … We often went together to hear Dr. Gifford, and as I had always a propensity to relieve every object in distress as far as I was able, I used to give all that complained to me, sometimes half-a-guinea at a time, as I did not understand the real value of it; this gracious good woman took great pains to correct and advise me in that and many other respects.
After I had been in London about six weeks, I was recommended to the notice of some of my late master Mr. Freelandhouse’s acquaintance, who had heard him speak frequently of me, I was much persuaded by them to go to Holland. My master lived there before he bought me, and used to speak of me so respectfully among his friends there, that it raised in them a curiosity to see me; particularly the gentlemen engaged in the ministry, who expressed a desire to hear my experience and examine me. I found that it was my good old master’s design that I should have gone if he had lived; for which reason I resolved upon going to Holland, and informed my dear friend Mr. Whitefield of my intention; he was much averse to my going at first, but after I gave him my reasons appeared very well satisfied. I likewise informed my Betty (the good woman that I have mentioned above) of my determination to go to Holland, and I told her that I believed she was to be my wife; and if it was the LORD’s will I desired it, but not else.—She made me very little answer, but has since told me, she did not think it at that time.
I embarked at Tower-warf at four o’clock in the morning, and arrived at Amsterdam the next day by three o’clock in the afternoon. I had several letters of recommendation to my old master’s friends, who received me very graciously. Indeed one of the chief ministers was particularly good to me; he kept me at his own house a long while, and took great pleasure in asking me questions, which I answered with delight, being always ready to say, “Come unto me all ye that fear GOD and I will tell what he hath done for my soul.” I cannot but admire the footsteps of Providence, astonished that I should be so wonderfully preserved! Though the grandson of a king, I have wanted bread, and should have been glad with the hardest crust I ever saw. I who at home, was surrounded and guarded by slaves, so that no indifferent person might approach me, and cloathed with gold, have been inhumanly threatened with death; and frequently wanted cloathing to defend me from the inclemency of the weather; yet I never murmured, nor was I ever discontented. I am willing, and even desirous to be counted as nothing, a stranger in the world, and a pilgrim here; for “I know that my REDEEMER liveth,” and I am thankful for every trial and trouble that I have met with, as I am not without hope that they have been all sanctified to me.
The Calvinist ministers desired to hear my experience from myself, which proposal I was very well pleased with; so I stood before thirty-eight ministers every Thursday, for seven weeks together, and they were all very well satisfied, and persuaded I was what I pretended to be. They wrote down my experience as I spoke it: and the LORD ALMIGHTY was with me at that time in a remarkable manner, and gave me words and enabled me to answer them; so great was his mercy to take me in hand a poor blind heathen.
At this time a very rich merchant in AMSTERDAM, offered to take me into his family in the capacity of his butler, and I very willingly accepted it. He was a gracious worthy gentleman, and very good to me. He treated me more like a friend than a servant. I tarried there a twelve-month but was not thoroughly contented, I wanted to see my wife; (that is now) and for that reason I wished to return to ENGLAND, I wrote to her once in my absence, but she did not answer my letter; and I must acknowledge if she had, it would have given me a less opinion of her. My master and mistress persuaded me much not to leave them, and likewise their two sons who entertained a good opinion of me; and if I had found my Betty married on my arrival in ENGLAND, I should have returned to them again immediately.
My lady purposed my marrying her maid; she was an agreeable young woman, had saved a great deal of money, but I could not fancy her, though she was willing to accept of me, but I told her, my inclinations were engaged in ENGLAND, and I could think of no other person. On my return home, I found my Betty disengaged. She had refused several offers in my absence, and told her sister, that she thought if ever she married, I was to be her husband.
