Category: Equiano

We have recently added several new pages to the Equiano section of this site. They tell the story of the German and Leeds versions of Equiano’s Interesting Narrative and there is also a page rounding up our work with the Heritage Lottery Funded project that ran throughout 2019. That project revealed fascinating new insights into Equiano’s life, helped raise his profile and brought him to the notice of a host of new fans.

The round up page is here and it contains links to our other Equiano activity: http://historycalroots.com/equiano-journeys-end

We were honoured to be asked to conduct research into the Dutch edition of Olaudah Equiano’s ‘Interesting Narrative’. First published in London in 1789.

The ‘Narrative’ was an instant best seller, it had run through nine editions by the time Equiano died in 1797 selling something like 30,000 copies – a phenomenal number for a book in those days (and not too shabby now!).

The book’s success piqued the interest of publishers on the Continent. There were no copyright laws in those days so there was nothing to stop any enterprising publisher from producing their own version of the book. With the prospect of money to be made, publishers in Holland, Germany and Russia jumped on the bandwagon. All they had to do was get the book translated, print it and wait for the proceeds to roll in.

The book was published in Dutch in the Autumn of 1790. We wanted to find out as much as we could about the circumstances of the publication and our research took us to Utrecht to meet Professor Marijke Huisman at the university there. Her paper  ‘Beyond the subject: Anglo-American Slave Narratives in the Netherlands, 1789 – 2013’ contained some valuable insights but we wanted to find out more. In addition to meeting Professor Huisman we were able to see a copy of the book in the university library:

We reported the results of our research at an event held at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton (calypsonian Alexander D’Great was one of those who also featured and is pictured here with us):

You can read more about what we discovered here:

http://historycalroots.com/equianos-interesting-narrative-the-dutch-edition

Behind the scenes the Historycal Roots team have been doing work recently on behalf of the Equiano Society. Over the next few weeks we will bring you some of the fruits of our labour.

As part of our work Bill Hern visited the National Portrait Gallery in London where he had arranged to see the engraving used as the frontispiece  for Equiano’s ‘Interesting Narrative’. Parts of his story make uncomfortable reading.

The print isn’t on display but is stored in the archives at the gallery, anyone can make an appointment to see it.

The first thing one notices is how small the picture is – 156mm x 95mm.

The original artist is W Denton. Denton is little known, but the man who carried out the stipple engraving of Denton’s print, Daniel Orme, was more celebrated.

Orme was born in Manchester on 25 August 1766. His mother, Margaret Walmsley was the third wife of his father, Aaron Orme. Orme lived in London from 1785 to 1814 and studied at the Royal Academy before becoming a painter and engraver. The Dictionary of National Biography records him as portrait painter and engraver to George III. As late as August 1861 Orme (deceased) is described on his son Frederick’s wedding certificate as ‘engraver to George III’. He was clearly a talented and high profile artist.

While the National Biography cites several of Orme’s works, there is no mention of the Equiano engraving. This suggests it was not one of his major pieces.

Orme returned to Manchester in October 1814 before dying of ‘paralysis’ in Liverpool on 8 February 1837.

The Equiano engraving is one of Orme’s earliest works. He tended to focus on naval characters such as Admirals Duncan and Nelson and the lesser known Jack Crawford, the ‘Hero of Camperdown,’ a naval battle of 1797.

One significant and perhaps relevant exception,  was his painting of  George Alexander Gratton – The Spotted Boy:

George Alexander (Gratton), a black boy with white markings. Engraving by P.R. Cooper, 1809, after D. Orme. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY

George was born on the Caribbean island of St Vincent. He had a skin condition, almost certainly, Vitiligo, which meant his black skin had white markings. In approximately September 1809, when he was 15 months old he was purchased for the sum of £1,000 by a travelling showman called John Richardson and transported to Bristol. It is said that Richardson treated George like a son. Certainly George proved a lucrative source of income for his ‘owner’.

Orme painted George ‘from life’ and the painting was published on 11 November 1809. This means Orme must have met George shortly after his arrival in England. He would also have spent considerable time with the young child who no doubt would prove a restless model.

The painting was later engraved under Orme’s direction by his then pupil, P R Cooper. The writing beneath the painting shows that it was published by Richard Gratton Esquire, London. Gratton was the name of the overseer or owner on the plantation where George’s parents were enslaved, it is likely Richard Gratton Esquire is the same person. The painting was sold by Orme from his address at 368, Oxford Street, London.

Copies of the engraving were later sold as souvenirs to those who visited the exhibitions to stare at poor George.

Sadly George was to die on 3 February 1813 aged only four years old.

Evidence that Richardson did care for George can be found in the fact that he had him baptised in Newington, Surrey shortly after his arrival in England. In death, he kept his body safe from thieves by having him buried in a brick vault in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Richardson later donated a portrait of George to All Saints Church, Great Marlow and erected a monument to him, also in Great Marlow.

The monument reads:

TO THE MEMORY

OF

GEORGE ALEXANDER GRATTON,

THE SPOTTED NEGRO BOY,

 From the Caribbee Islands, in the West Indies, died February 3d, 1813, aged four years and three-quarters.

This tomb, erected by his only Friend and Guardian, Mr John Richardson, of London.

Should this plain simple tomb attract thine eyes,

Stranger, as thoughtfully thou passest by,

Know that there lies beneath this humble stone,

A child of colour, haply not thine own.

His parents born of Afric’s sun-burnt race,

Tho’ black and white were blended in his face,

To Britain brought, which made his parents free,

 And shew’d the world great Natur’s prodigy.

Depriv’d of kindred that to him were dear,

He found a friendly Guardian’s fost’ring care,

But, scarce had bloom’d, the fragrant flower fades,

And the lov’d infant finds an early grave,

 To bury him his lov’d companions came,

And drop’t choice flowers, and lis’d his early fame;

And some that lov’d him most, as if unblest,

Bedwe’d with tears the whice wreath on his breast.

But he is gone, and dwells in the abode,

Where some of every clime must joy in God!

 The good news in this message is that George’s parents gained their freedom because of George,  although they would have seen nothing of the £1,000 which Richardson paid for the child. The other good news is that George was clearly cared for by Richardson no matter how repulsive and cruel his treatment was.

Students of Equiano will recognise many of the words in the epitaph. If you are trying to recall where you have seen them before let us remind ourselves of the words on the plaque at St Andrew’s Church, Chesterton in Cambridgeshire commemorating Anna Maria Vassa the daughter of Equiano:

Should simple village rhymes attract thine eye,

Stranger, as thoughtfully thou passest by,

Know that there lies beside this humblest stone,

A child of colour haply not thine own.

Her father born of Afric’s sun-burnt race,

Torn from his native field, ah foul disgrace:

Through various toils, at length to Britain came

Espoused, so Heaven ordain’d, an English dame,

And follow’d Christ; their hope two infants dear,

But one, a hapless orphan, slumbers here.

To bury her the village children came.

And dropp’d choice flowers, and lisp’d her early fame;

And some that lov’d her most, as if unblest,

Bedew’d with tears the white wreath on their breast;

But she is gone and dwells in that abode,

Where some of every clime shall joy in God.

Apart from some customisation to reflect different individual circumstances the words commemorating Anna Maria and George are remarkably similar.  Yet Anna Maria died in July 1797 almost 15 years before George.

It had been thought that Anna Maria’s poem had been written by Martha Ferrar Peckard the wife of the Peter Peckard the Dean of Peterborough and a friend of Equiano. That may still be the case of course as Martha was known to be a poet. Indeed one of her poems ‘Ode to Spring. By a Lady’ can still be found on the poetical scavenger website

http://poeticalscavenger.sfsuenglishdh.net/poems/anonymous-ode-to-spring-by-a-lady/

But would her words have spread almost 100 miles from Cambridgeshire to Great Marlow and still be used so long after Anna Maria’s death? Someone must have written these words and Martha remains the most likely author.

However, let us return to Equiano’s print. The small writing at the foot of the print tells us that W  Denton was responsible for the print and D Orme was the ‘sculptor’ – in other words the engraver. We are also told that the print is of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African and it was published on March 1 1789 by G Vassa, some 3 weeks before the first edition of The Interesting Narrative was published.

The Bible that Equiano is holding is open at Acts Chapter 4 Verse 12 which reads:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

It is likely that, like the engraving of George, Equiano would have run off many copies of the print to distribute during his tours around Great Britain.

The original engraving is in very safe hands at the National Portrait Gallery and can be viewed by appointment at the Gallery’s archives.

It’s always a pleasure to meet someone who has a written a book that graces your bookshelf. James Walvin, who has devoted 50 years of his life to researching and writing about black British history, spoke eloquently at the American International Church in London recently on the subject of ‘Equiano: the slave trade and the cause of freedom’.

James book ‘An African’s Life: The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano’ was first published almost 20 years ago, maybe it’s a little out of date now but it is still a very good read. It takes Equiano’s own words as the starting point for a discussion of the historical context for Equiano’s life and times.  Anyone who wants to know more about the world Equiano lived in could do far worse than getting hold of a copy.

There is an interesting interview with James here, it dates from 2007 but that doesn’t diminish its interest: https://archives.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/interviews/walvin.html

The Equiano Society have (or should that be ‘has’?) run a series of events this year to commemorate the life of Olaudah Equiano, we have been fortunate enough to attend most of them. Many of the events have been held at the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road as this is now believed to be the site of his final resting place.

A highlight of the programme was an event to launch a new exhibition featuring Equiano’s life. It was an unusually varied programme with music, poetry from Nairobi Thompson, an acted  debate on theology between Equiano and a member of the Protestant church (remember the church had very mucky hands when it came to the question of slavery), as well as spoken pieces from Burt Caesar, Mervyn Weir and Arthur Torrington. Jonathan Miller represented the church and introduced the Mayor of Camden. The musical interludes featuring Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’ and ‘Amazing Grace’ played on solo violin and piano were a powerful and moving highlight for us. The photos from the back of a packed audience don’t really do justice to the performers.

The exhibition panels give a good overview of Equiano’s life with expert guides (well, us) on hand to answer questions.

 

Although the launch event has been and gone the exhibition continues until the end of August at the American International Church, Tottenham Court Road, very close to Goodge Street tube station.

The exhibition will be open between 12 noon and 14.00 and then again between 17.00 and 20.00 on 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 28th and 29th August. Opening times on Saturday 17th and Saturday 24th will be 10.00 to 17.00. The exhibition is free.

There is a special event on Saturday 17th when, James Walvin, a Professor of History at York University and author of many books on black British history, will be speaking on the subject of ‘Equiano, The Slave Trade and The Cause of Freedom’. Tickets for the talk are on Eventbrite, admission to the talk is free.

Do try and get there if you can.

11th July 1766 was an important day in the life of Olaudah Equiano. In the morning he went to see his ‘owner’, Robert King, on the island of Montserrat. Equiano was feeling nervous, as he put it, he had ‘many fears in my heart.’  The reason for his trepidation was that he was approaching King with a view to buying his freedom. Through hard work and much enterprise, Equiano had saved the £40 that King had told him would be the price of freedom.

If there was such a thing as a ‘good’ slave owner then King was probably such a man, he had treated Equiano well and placed him in positions of trust. But Equiano was used to being cheated by white men and King hesitated, Equiano had been extremely useful to him and he was reluctant to part with such a valuable asset.  King complained that Equiano had ‘got the money much faster [than expected] and said he would not have made me the promise he did if he had thought I should have got money so soon.’ Fortunately another white man present, who knew Equiano well, Captain Farmer, spoke up for him and persuaded King to honour his agreement. The sum of £40 was handed over and Equiano went directly to the Register Office on the island to get the legal document freeing him drawn up.   It’s worth mentioning that £40 in 1766 is equivalent to almost £7,000 today.

Equiano’s manumission day was celebrated at the Black Cultural Archives with poetry by Nat Nye and a talk from Hakim Adi, Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester.

In addition to talking about Equiano’s manumission, Hakim spoke passionately about why history matters and to deplore its decline as a subject of choice among students.

Here is an example (unrelated to Equiano) of Hakim talking about migration. ‘Britain’ he says ‘is a country of migrants’. He makes a point I have made many times, that the Angles and Saxons (whose values are so often held up by so called ‘nationalists’) were migrants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJGb8hTnndM

As luck would have it, the day after the event at the BCA I started reading ‘Untold Histories: Black people in England and Wales during the period of the British slave trade c160 – 1807’ by Kathleen Chater. She included a quote from historian, John Tosh, in her introduction ‘history is a political battleground. The sanction of the past is sought by those committed to upholding authority and by those intent on subverting it.’ If historians can be said to take sides in that battle of ideas then there is no doubt that Hakim Adi would be among the subversives. His talk was stimulating, challenging and, yes, a little subversive (and all the better for that). I came away wondering why this wasn’t how history was taught to me at school and with a strong desire to enroll on a history course at the University of Chichester!