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Sambo's Grave is the burial site of a dark-skinned
In the early 18th century Sunderland Point was a port for Lancaster, serving ships too large to sail up to the town. According to the Lonsdale Magazine of 1822, which appears to rely on the then oral history, Sambo had arrived around 1736 from the West Indies as a servant to the captain of an unnamed ship:
It has also been suggested that Sambo may have died from a disease to which he had no natural immunity, contracted from contact with Europeans. He was buried in unconsecrated ground (as he was not a Christian) on the weatherbeaten shoreline of
The present plaque is a modern replica, replacing the original which had been stolen. This is explained by a smaller plaque, set immediately above the main plaque, which reads:
Official signposts on Sunderland Point define the grave and locality as a tourist attraction. The grave almost always bears flowers or stones painted by local children. The grave was enclosed by a low stone wall in 2019 and Chris Drury's 'Horizon Line Chamber' was built on the approach path.
Sunderland Point and Samboo's Grave"Sambo" 1657, antedates OED 1704-The Graves of Slaves & other Black People in 18th C Britain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sambos Grave History of Lancaster Burials in Lancashire British slaves Samboo Year of birth unknown
Sambo's Grave is the burial site of a dark-skinned cabin boy
''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for '' Late Night with Dav ...
or slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
on unconsecrated ground
In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...
in a field near the small village of Sunderland Point
Sunderland, commonly known as Sunderland Point, is a small village among the marshes, on a windswept peninsula between the mouth of the River Lune and Morecambe Bay, in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. It was used as a por ...
, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, England. Sunderland Point was a port, serving cotton, sugar and slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...
s from the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
and North America, which declined after Glasson Dock
Glasson Dock, also known as Glasson, is a village in Lancashire, England, south of Lancaster at the mouth of the River Lune. In 2011, it had a population of around 600.
History
Glasson was originally a small farming and fishing community (whic ...
was opened in 1787. It is a very small community only accessible via a narrow road, which crosses a salt marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
and is cut off at high tide.
History
In the early 18th century Sunderland Point was a port for Lancaster, serving ships too large to sail up to the town. According to the Lonsdale Magazine of 1822, which appears to rely on the then oral history, Sambo had arrived around 1736 from the West Indies as a servant to the captain of an unnamed ship:
It has also been suggested that Sambo may have died from a disease to which he had no natural immunity, contracted from contact with Europeans. He was buried in unconsecrated ground (as he was not a Christian) on the weatherbeaten shoreline of Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...
.
Plaque
With the opening of Glasson Dock in 1787, trade ships deserted Sunderland Point and it became a sea-bathing place and holiday venue. Sixty years after the burial, a retired headmaster of Lancaster boys' grammar school, James Watson, heard the story and raised money from summer visitors to the area for a memorial, to be placed on the unmarked grave. Watson, who was the brother of the prominent Lancaster slave trader, William Watson, also wrote the epitaph that now marks the grave (note the use of ''ſ'', thelong s
The long s , also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaism, archaic form of the lowercase letter . It replaced the single ''s'', or one or both of the letters ''s'' in a 'double ''s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" ...
character, and the eccentric and inconsistent spelling typical of the time):
The present plaque is a modern replica, replacing the original which had been stolen. This is explained by a smaller plaque, set immediately above the main plaque, which reads:
Preservation
Official signposts on Sunderland Point define the grave and locality as a tourist attraction. The grave almost always bears flowers or stones painted by local children. The grave was enclosed by a low stone wall in 2019 and Chris Drury's 'Horizon Line Chamber' was built on the approach path.
References
External links
*Sunderland Point and Samboo's Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sambos Grave History of Lancaster Burials in Lancashire British slaves Samboo Year of birth unknown