Working Lives

Joseph Emidy

Joseph Emidy (about 1775 to 1835) was born in West Africa. As a child, Portuguese traders enslaved him. They took him to Brazil and then to Portugal. It is unclear where he learned to play violin, but whilst in Portugal he became a violinist in the Lisbon Opera.

In 1795, Emidy was forced into service aboard a British Navy ship as a ship's fiddler. Four years later he was finally discharged in Falmouth where he earned his living as a violinist and teacher. In 1802 he married Jane Hutchengs, a local tradesman's daughter and in 1805 the couple and their daughters moved to Truro.

Emidy remained in Cornwall performing, teaching and composing and eventually becoming Leader of the Truro Philharmonic Orchestra. He is celebrated as the most influential musical figure in early-19th-century Cornwall. His memorial stone is in the churchyard of Kenwyn Church, Kenwyn Church Road, Truro TR1 3DR.

George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower

George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (about 1780 to 1860), a virtuoso violinist, is best remembered for his association with Beethoven, who composed the Kreutzer Sonata for him.

A child prodigy, in 1789 he played at The Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, Bath, BA1 2QH. Bridgetower's father was of African descent, and there are several versions of his ancestry, including being the son of an African prince. From the age of 11, George Bridgetower was first violinist in the Prince of Wales' (later George IV) private orchestra.

Cesar Picton

Cesar Picton (about 1755 to 1836) became a successful businessman and owner of a wharf and a malt house, despite being taken from his family in Senegal as a child. At just six years of age he was transported by ship to England where he worked as a servant. He later became a coal merchant, using bequests left to him by his employers. From 1790, Picton lived at 52 High Street, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 4DB (listed Grade II*), known as Picton House and now marked by a Kingston local history plaque.

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By 1807, the year of the Abolition Act, he was able to retire and live as a gentleman. He bought a grand house, now also known as Picton House, 56 High Street, Thames Ditton, KT7 0SA (listed Grade II) in 1816. The house still has lavish and intact internal plaster work and panelling dating from the 1730s to 1750s. Both houses can still be seen from the street.

Dido Elizabeth Belle

Dido Eizabeth Belle (from 1761 to 1804) was the illegitimate daughter of Sir John Lindsay, a Royal Navy officer and a nephew of the 1st Earl of Mansfield. Her mother was Maria an enslaved African whom Sir John met whilst his ship was in the Caribbean.

Sir John acknowledged Dido as his child and, from the 1760s she grew up in Lord Mansfield's household with her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray at Kenwood House, Hampstead, London NW3 7JR.

Dido was educated and literate. As well as overseeing the running of the dairy at Kenwood, she helped Lord Mansfield with his legal correspondence. A visitor to the house commented that Dido's great-uncle "called upon (her)…every minute for this and that, and showed the greatest attention to everything she said".

By comparing the annual allowance Dido received it is clear that within the household her status was higher than that of a servant but generally below that of the rest of the family.

As Lord Chief Justice, Lord Mansfield presided over some of the most historic cases involving enslaved Africans whose status in English law was uncertain. When he died he was careful to confirm in his will that Dido was a free woman. He also left her £500 and an annual allowance of £100.

In 1793 Dido married John Davinier, a steward (a senior servant). They had three sons and lived in Pimlico until her death, aged 43.

George Africanus

George Africanus (from 1763 to 1834) is Nottingham's first recorded Black entrepreneur, starting an employment agency called the Africanus Register of Servants.

George was enslaved and brought to England from Sierra Leone at three years of age. He was given as a present to a wealthy Wolverhampton businessman, Benjamin Molineux.

After serving an apprenticeship as a brass founder in one of Molineux' foundries, George moved to Nottingham where he married Esther, a local woman. He went on to own his own home, land and several businesses meaning that he was eligible to vote.

He died aged 71 and is buried in St Mary's Churchyard, High Pavement, Nottingham Lace Market, Nottingham NG1 1HR, where a City of Nottingham plaque commemorates him.