It is a pleasure to welcome Cheryl Butler as a new contributor to Historycal Roots. Cheryl is particularly knowledgeable about the history of Southampton and this is how she was introduced when she gave a TED talk in 2019:
She is a historian, writer, and former Head of Culture at Eastleigh where she worked on projects including Vital Villages, Legible Cities and the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire Culture and Quality Place group. Honorary Fellow of the University of Winchester and Fellow of the Royal Historical Association and has written extensively on the history of Southampton and is an editor for the Southampton Records and member of the Southampton Tourist Guides Association.
Her talk was about Southampton’s history in general (not specifically its black history) and you can see it here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/cheryl_butler_a_city_s_history_and_memory
But she has also written about Southampton’s black history:
Telling other histories: Early Black History in Southampton c1500-1900
Currently unavailable on Amazon, you should be able to order a copy from your favourite local book shop, using isbn 978-0-9557488-6-8 or by e-mailing a_sannah(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)hotmail.co.uk.
Although we have not featured Southampton on Historycal Roots before it makes sense that it would have long had a black community of note. As a port, there were seamen, and where there were seamen there were black seamen. It was also home to wealthy individuals with extensive interests in the East Indies and the Caribbean, individuals some of whom most likely employed black servants.
Cheryl’s article for us focuses on one individual who makes a fleeting appearance in Southampton’s history. Very little is known of John Jackson before he was taken prisoner as a deserter and nothing is known of what became of him although we can be pretty sure his punishment would have been gruesome.
Cheryl’s article is here:
https://www.historycalroots.com/john-jackson-of-the-31st-regiment-of-foot/