SOURCE: Gerzina, Gretchen Holbrook. “Ignatius Sancho: A Renaissance Black Man in Eighteenth-Century England.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 21 (autumn 1998): 106-07.

In the following essay, Gerzina presents a brief account of Sancho's life, reputation, and unique social position in eighteenth-century Britain.

Unknown to most Americans and even to most British, eighteenth-century England was the home of approximately 14,000 black people. Most of these residents were servants, slaves and former slaves, brought to England by the owners of West Indian and American plantations. Many other blacks in England, however, were sailors, musicians, or students. Black students were sent to English schools by their African fathers or by missionaries to help young blacks learn the intricacies of trade and clerical work. Black women were scarce. The majority of the urban black population consisted of boys and men. Boys were favored as “fashion accessories” who could be dressed up in silks...