{"id":1704,"date":"2020-07-01T08:30:55","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T08:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=1704"},"modified":"2020-07-01T12:07:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T12:07:59","slug":"black-voices-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2020\/07\/01\/black-voices-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Voices Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent weeks the\u00a0<\/span>Black Lives Matter<\/a> movement has\u00a0<\/span>shone a spotlight on<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the importance of\u00a0<\/span>making sure\u00a0<\/span>that h<\/span>istory reflects the<\/span>\u00a0liv<\/span>es of all peop<\/span>le<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0we have found stories of\u00a0<\/span>black people<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in the records from our archive\u00a0<\/span>that may surprise you<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is easy to think that in a\u00a0<\/span>predominantly\u00a0<\/span>white rural county such as Dorset<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>there are few stories to d<\/span>iscover<\/span>, but we\u00a0<\/span>were able to find more than 20 baptism records for people identified as black<\/span>\u00a0dating from 1729 to 1814<\/span>\u00a0and t<\/span>he<\/span>re may have been many more whose ethnicity was not recorded.<\/span> These were some of the thousands of black people who lived in Georgian Britain<\/a>.<\/span> I<\/span>t is impossible to say how many of these people resided in Dorset<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>on a permanent basis however. <\/span>Ma<\/span>ny of these records come from<\/span>\u00a0ports, most commonly<\/span>\u00a0Poole<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>it is possible that some were just passing through.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the records we found was\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>baptism of\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>Robert Williams, a black<\/em>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0baptised 6<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0April 1806 in Kinson.\u00a0<\/span>We weren\u2019t hopeful of finding out more about Robert.\u00a0<\/span>In many cases we have been able to discover little <\/span>beyond a name. This is not unusual when trying to research the records of people from the late 18<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0and early 19<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0century, as anyone who has tried to trace their family tree beyond the mid 1800<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s will know!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>It can be very hard to separate individuals who share a name or track people as they move around the country or beyond.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Robert’<\/span>s name was\u00a0fairly common\u00a0and<\/span>,<\/span> as a lot of\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>dividuals\u00a0<\/span>were<\/span>\u00a0adults when they were\u00a0<\/span>baptised,<\/span> we didn’t even know his age.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, <\/span>we<\/span> were lucky. It emerged that Robert didn\u2019t move very far, spending the rest of his life around Canford Magna, Longfleet and Kinson.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Robert\u00a0<\/span>married Sarah Mingo on 9th<\/span> December <\/span>\u00a01813\u00a0in Kinson.\u00a0<\/span>Robert\u00a0<\/span>signs his name in the register, which shows that he was literate. The couple had six children who were baptised in Canford Magna or Hampreston. We know little more about Sarah, other than that she was baptised in Kinson, and her parents were from the area too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We can be sure that this is the same Robert Williams who appears in the baptism register because the family appears in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. In 1841\u00a0<\/span>the family were living at Kennel Cottage, <\/span>Canford<\/span>\u00a0Heath<\/span>. Robert\u2019s occupation was given as M.S., an abbreviation for ‘male servant’. His son John was an apprentice <\/span>s<\/span>hoemaker<\/span> and his daughter Elizabeth a dress maker. <\/span>Robert was recorded as being born in foreign lands.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the 1851 census<\/span> the family Robert, Sarah and their son Charles were living in West Howe<\/span> in the parish of Kinson. Robert was a labourer and Charles a servant. This census recorded that Robert Williams was born in Jamaica<\/span> and his age as 65, meaning he must have been born there around 1786.<\/span> We can see that <\/span>Robert died in 1<\/span>85<\/span>6 and was buried in\u00a0<\/span>Canford<\/span>\u00a0Magna.\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>ome of his descendants\u00a0<\/span>are\u00a0<\/span>still living in Dorset in the 1911 census and it seems quite likely that some may still be living in the county today. We wonder if they know they are descended from a man from\u00a0Jamaica<\/span>?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u00a0<\/span>have been able to<\/span> build up a picture of Robert Williams’ life, <\/span>however we\u00a0<\/span>know a lot less about the women mentioned in our next records, but what we do know is intriguing. The registers from Poole<\/span>\u00a0record the baptism of \u2018a negro woman<\/em><\/span> purchased by Mr Thomas Olive<\/em>\u2019 on the 27th<\/span>\u00a0April 1755 and the baptism of \u2018Jane and Susanna, daughters of Thomas Olive and a negro woman<\/em><\/span>\u2019 on 30th<\/span>\u00a0April in the same year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We wanted to try and find out more about these women and soon came across the will of Thomas Olive<\/span>, Merchant of Poole<\/span>. Thomas Olive died in January 1755 and was buried in Poole<\/span>. In his\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>ill he\u00a0<\/span>leaves\u00a0<\/span>\u00a3900, the equivalent of over \u00a3100,000 in modern money, <\/span>for the support of…<\/span><\/p>\n

…my negro woman called Judith, now in South Carolina<\/span> and my two children born of her and known by the names of Jane and Susannah… <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Later <\/span>in the\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>ill<\/span>\u00a0Thomas requests that\u00a0<\/span>his trustees arrange for Judith and her children to be brought over to England, \u2018there to be tutored<\/span>\u00a0in the fear of the Lord and might become true Christians\u2019.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>ill explains how these<\/span>\u00a0three women came to be baptised in Poole, but there are many questions left unanswered.\u00a0<\/span>How did they feel about travelling to England, and how were they treated when they got here?\u00a0<\/span>If the\u00a0<\/span>woman baptised on 27<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0April 1755<\/span>\u00a0is<\/span>\u00a0Judith<\/span>, the fact that she<\/span>\u00a0is not even named in the record<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>makes her status very unclear.\u00a0<\/span>Describing her as ‘<\/span>a woman purchased\u00a0<\/em>by Thomas Olive’<\/em><\/span>\u00a0suggests that she was viewed<\/span>\u00a0as\u00a0<\/span>little better than a slave<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jane and Susanna\u00a0<\/span>are acknowledged as the daughters\u00a0<\/span>of Thomas Oliv<\/span>e and\u00a0<\/span>have been bequeathed a large sum of money<\/span>, but you wonder how they<\/span>\u00a0settled into<\/span>\u00a0this strange new country<\/span> and how Thomas Olive’s <\/span>kinsmen reacted to their arrival.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have not been able<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to find any documents that tell<\/span>\u00a0us what happened<\/span>\u00a0to these women. There<\/span>\u00a0is a record\u00a0<\/span>of a burial of a Jane\u00a0<\/span>O<\/span>l<\/span>live<\/span>\u00a0in Poole in\u00a0<\/span>1770, but as\u00a0<\/span>Thomas had several kinsmen in\u00a0<\/span>Poole<\/span>\u00a0we cannot be sure that this is the same woman<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is frustrating that we can get no more than a\u00a0<\/span>glimpse into these\u00a0<\/span>lives<\/span>\u00a0and it is an important reminder\u00a0<\/span>that we need to work\u00a0<\/span>hard to make sure<\/span>\u00a0that all voices are represented<\/span>\u00a0in our records.\u00a0<\/span>At t<\/span>he Dorset History\u00a0<\/span>Centre<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>we<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>aim to address this by working in partnerships and reviewing our outreach\u00a0<\/span>priorities<\/span> to include work with marginalised communities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In this way that we hope\u00a0<\/span>that generations\u00a0<\/span>to come will be able to discover what life was like fo<\/span>r all the different communities that exist in Dorset<\/span>, because\u00a0<\/span>everyone\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0stor<\/span>y<\/span>\u00a0matter<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent weeks the\u00a0Black Lives Matter movement has\u00a0shone a spotlight on\u00a0the importance of\u00a0making sure\u00a0that history reflects the\u00a0lives of all people\u00a0and\u00a0we have found stories of\u00a0black people\u00a0in the records from our archive\u00a0that may surprise you.\u00a0 It is easy to think that in a\u00a0predominantly\u00a0white rural county such as Dorset\u00a0there are few stories to discover, but we\u00a0were able to… Read more Black Voices Matter<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,11],"tags":[82,190,189,109],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1704"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1714,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704\/revisions\/1714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}