James Somerset ( – after 1772) was an African man and the plaintiff in a pivotal court case that confirmed that slavery was not legal in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

Biography

Somerset was born in West Africa around 1741. He was captured when he was about 8 years old, sold to European slave traders, and transported to the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

where Scottish merchant Charles Stewart bought the child. In 1764, Somerset was taken to Boston, where Stewart had been appointed Receiver General of Customs. In November 1769, Stewart moved to England, taking Somerset along to serve him in his residence in London. In London, Somerset was baptised on 10 February 1771 at the Church of St Andrew, Holborn, with Thomas Walkin, Elizabeth Cade and John Marlow acting as his

godparent In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

s. Perhaps because baptism was often associated with manumission, Somerset refused to continue serving Stewart and left him. Somerset evidently lived in freedom for several months, but in November 1771 he was kidnapped and forced aboard the ''Ann and Mary'', captained by John Knowles, to be transported to Jamaica and sold. His godparents, abolitionists, filed a ''

Habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'' case with the courts and enlisted

Granville Sharp Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first British campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle black ...

to aid Somerset. The case, ''

Somerset v Stewart ''Somerset v Stewart'' (177298 ER 499(also known as ''Somersett's case'', ''v. XX Sommersett v Steuart and the Mansfield Judgment)'' is a judgment of the English Court of King's Bench in 1772, relating to the right of an enslaved person on E ...

'', saw powerful interests arguing on both sides, as it challenged the legal basis of slavery in

. On 22 June 1772, the judge,

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...

, found in favour of Somerset. Although Mansfield had meant for the ruling to be narrowly construed, it was popularly taken to confirm that slavery was outlawed in England and Wales. Somerset himself appears to have adopted the broader interpretation and wrote to at least one enslaved person encouraging them to desert their master. Nothing is known of Somerset after 1772.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading