[Ignatius Sancho: An African Man of Letters; Reyahn King et al.; National Portrait Gallery of the U.K. (1997)]
Ignatius Sancho: An African Man of Letters
May 24th, 2008 by zinto
“As with previous posts on slave leadership figures globally I once again emphasise that when looking at slavery in the Cape it is important that we also look at slavery elsewhere in the world, in particular in the USA, Brazil and the Caribbean. Particularly in the mid 1800s the banner of the struggle for freedom and abolition was raised in every centre where slavery was practiced. A special leadership arose from amongst slaves - a leadership that will always be remembered. Another of these leaders was Ignatius Sancho who worked closely with William Wilberforce and the abolitionists in England.
“Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) was born a slave on a ship crossing the Atlantic from Africa to the West Indies then taken as a child to England. His earliest memories were of Greenwich, near London, where he worked as a child slave. He persuaded the powerful Montagu family to employ him as their butler, an important position. He later retired to run a grocery shop in Westminster.
“Ignatius composed music, appeared on the stage, and entertained many famous figures of literary and artistic London. One hundred and sixty eight years after the first indigenous South African, Chief Xhore (Coree) was forcibly taken to England, Ignatius was the first African we know of to vote in a British election.” “In recent years there has been a great deal of interest in the life and works of Ignatius Sancho. The following website aims to reflect the work being done by Sancho scholars around the world. http://www.brycchancarey.com/sancho/index.htm” Full Post [Ignatius Sancho is also profiled at AfriClassical.com]
Slavery & Creolisation
Heritage in the Cape
Ignatius Sancho, African Slave
African Composer & Author
Britain's First Black Voter
Black Composer
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