Life for the 'average' black person in England before and into the Victorian age wasn't what you might imagine. There was never slavery in England, as there was in Scotland; that's according to Dr Kathleen Chater in this podcast from a lecture given during TNA's recent Diversity Week
According to Chater most were quietly getting on with their lives, seeking employment, getting married and raising families. Despite the obstacle that blacks were rarely identified as such in official records, and it takes a lot of work to uncover their life histories, glimpses into their lives can be found buried in The National Archives' vast collection. The presentation contains anecdotes about some colourful individuals.
Listen from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/untold-histories-black-britons.htm
14 December 2011
TNA podcast: Untold histories: black Britons during the period of the British slave trade, c. 1660-1807
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2 comments:
Sandra: The podcast makes clear that there were plenty of black servants in the period, most people were servants, but they were not slaves. The term Master could be referring to an apprenticeship situation.
I admittedly don't know anything about English history but "servant" was euphemistically used in many early American documents in place of "slave."
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