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Black Settlers in Tudor Times
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The Tudor period was significant for Black settlement in
England (although Black settlement began before this). In
1501, for example, we know that Catherine of Aragon landed
at Plymouth with a multinational and multicultural entourage
of Moors, Muslims and Jews - descendants of those who had
settled in Spain from the 8th century. Besides  'Black
Moors' from Spain and North Africa, in Tudor times Black
people began to arrive as a result of the slave trade - as
interpreters, sailors and servants, and also, it appears,
as slaves.
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A Black Diver Gives Evidence
Papers relating to a suit (claim) and countersuit before the
High Court of Admiralty in 1547/8 give us a glimpse of one slave
working in Tudor England. In November 1546, a merchant ship,
the St Mary and St Edward of Southampton, caught fire
and sank while riding at anchor two miles off Southampton. An
Italian salvage operator, Pietro Paulo Corso, was hired to recover
tin and lead from the ship, these being the only salvageable
parts of a cargo valued at £6,000. Domenico Erizo, one
of the consortium of Florentine and Venetian merchants who owned
the cargo, subsequently claimed that Corso had secretly removed
tin from the sunken ship and hidden it away for his own benefit.
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Lying off The Needles (185KB)
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One of Corso's divers in this salvage operation was a man called Jacques Francis, a (so called) slave from Guinea in West Africa. We know something about his role because he and other
witnesses gave depositions (statements under oath) in support
of Corso's claim against Erizo for damages and/or Erizo's
countersuit. A number of these depositions display unfavourable
attitudes towards slaves or Blacks as witnesses.
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'A morisco born where
they are not christened'(122KB)
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John Moore, A Black Freeman of the City of York
On 29 September 1687, a Moor was given the freedom
of the city of York. He is listed in the freemen's roll
as 'John Moore - blacke'. He is sometimes referred to as 'Johannes'
Moore.
The freedom of the city could be obtained by men and women,
in a number of different ways. They could earn it through
serving an apprenticeship, inherit it from a parent who was
a freeman, purchase it, or receive it as a reward for services
rendered to the city. John Moore bought the freedom of the
city.
There seems to have been no fixed rate for those people purchasing
the freedom of the city. John Moore paid two amounts - 20
nobles (equivalent to13s 6d) to the Common Chamber of the
city of York and £4 to the city council - for this honour.
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A Black Freeman in York
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John Moore appears to have been a fairly wealthy member of
the York community. He was in a position to pay the requisite
amount of money to the mayor to enjoy all the privileges of
the freedom of the city. Belonging to this elite body, he
could bear arms, he had the right to fish in the city's rivers
and, since freemen were beneficial owners of the meadows,
he could graze his animals on them.
Moore was something of an exception, as no other Black man
or woman has been found to date in the York rolls. Perhaps
further research will reveal other examples of Black people
being entered on the freemen's rolls of other cities in Britain.
Further research is already revealing examples of Black people being entered on the freemen's rolls of other cities in Britain.
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John Moore Pays for
the Freedom of the City
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References and Further Reading
Surtees Society, Register of the Freemen of the City of
York from the City Records, vol. I, no. 96 (1897) and
vol. II, no. 102 (1900)
Walvin, J., Black and White: The Negro and English Society,
1555-1945, London, 1973
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