Population Migration - 18th Century

George John Scipio Africanus c. 1763-1834

George was taken as an infant from Sierra Leone in the 1760's. This was at a time when slavery was still recognised in Britain and Negro servants were considered fashionable and a sign of wealth in society.

George Molineux (Y1/MOL/1)

He was given to the Molineux family of Wolverhampton and christened at St Peter's Church on 31 March 1766, when he acquired his English name.

Extract from Molineux family diary which reads '1770 I agreed to give John Hunt 21 shillings to learn Scipio to dress hair …' (DX-121/24)

It is possible that George was destined to be just another fashionable black servant for the Molineux family, but in 1772 a legal judgement made it unlawful to own slaves on English soil.

This judgement caused many African slaves in England to become destitute and homeless as their owners could no longer keep them. Many returned to their native Africa.

However George was apprenticed to a brassfounder and served out his time in Wolverhampton.

Following the completion of his apprenticeship George was free to travel and work where he wished, and he moved to Nottingham. The reason for this is not clear but the Molineux family did have connections in the county.

George became a successful businessman. He is known to have worked as a labourer, waiter and brassfounder, but the employment that brought him the most financial success was the Africanus Register of Servants, a servant agency.

His wife Esther opened a milliners business on the same premises. George bought adjacent land and gained the rent from three houses built on it.

George now met all the qualifications to be a Freeman and was eligible to vote in elections in Nottingham (he is listed in the Nottingham poll book for 1818 for example).

George John Scipio Africanus died in 1834, aged 71 years, and is buried in St Mary's Church, Nottingham.

Obviously there would have been other wealthy families and individuals in Wolverhampton who owned slaves, and after slavery was abolished in Britain in 1807 black men and women in the town would have lived as free men. There are few, if any local records of their activities. One source that we have access to is the church register. However these must be used with caution. Not everyone was a Christian, and even if they were they may not have worshipped in the Church of England.

A search of the Wolverhampton St Peter's baptism register from 1539 to 1812 reveals two further references to black men:

Other families involved in slave owning were the Giffards of Chillington and the Unetts, originally from Wolverhampton, who inherited the estates of the Wilkes family of Willenhall.

The extract from the Molineux family diary below, refers to Pluto, who is believed to have been a black servant, though some researchers think Pluto and George Africanus were one and the same person.

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Molineux diary 1762 (DX-121/24)

Apart from landowning, Wolverhampton people had other interests in the slave trade. In 1767 Henry Waldram was listed in a trade directory as a 'lock maker, horse screw, men's leg & Negro collar, thumb's screw, and hand cuff manufacturer.' In 1770 he was described as a 'Negro collar and handcuff manufacturer'.

Trade directory 1770

Captain Wilkes Unett (above) and John Wilkes Unett, Richard's brother (below) (Y1-UNE)

Not everyone in Wolverhampton supported the slave trade. In 1826 John Mander chaired a meeting to formulate a petition to parliament against slavery. The Wolverhampton Chronicle recorded that 'the meeting was thinly attended':

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In the 19th century an interesting legal case developed in the town. Henry Box Brown, an escaped American slave (slavery was still legal in America) successfully sued the Wolverhampton Herald in 1852. Brown was touring England with a show depicting the evils of slavery and alleged that the Herald's review of the show as a 'gross and palpable exaggeration' had kept the Wolverhampton public away and lost him money. Taking into account the personal insults contained in the article, the judge awarded him £100 damages, a considerable sum in those days.

Ira Aldridge, 'The African Roscius', was one of the few serious black actors to gain acceptance and popularity in the 19th century. Born early in the century in either Africa or America (the exact details are unknown) he spent most of his career touring England and Europe. He appeared in Wolverhampton in 1846 at the old theatre in High Green recreating some of his most famous roles, particularly as Shakespeare's Othello. He was known mainly for black roles, but did appear as King Lear on one tour to Russia.

Advertisements for Aldridge's performances, Wolverhampton Chronicle, October 1846

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Review of Aldridge's performances, Wolverhampton Chronicle, October 1846

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Theatre poster for the performance (DX-343)