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John Ystumllyn aka Jack Black (Jac Du in Welsh) (c.1730s-1786): St Cynhaearn's Church, Ystumllyn, Portmadoc Road, Criccieth LL52 0PS Unlike most, John Ystumllyn has a portrait of him as a young man, as well as a biography. The latter was written after his death by a local bard, Alltud Eifion,…
Nathaniel Wells: St Arvans Church, 24 Wyndcliffe View, St Arvans, Chepstow NP16 6ET A memorial to Nathaniel Wells in the ancient church of St Arvans is like most others commemorating a worthy local citizen, one who had even sponsored the church’s distinctive octagonal tower. It mentions that he was the…
Felicity Ogilvie (c.1782-1831): Cardross Old Parish Church, Main Road, Cardross, Dumbarton G82 5JX A badly decayed memorial to a much-loved Grenadine nanny, Felicity Ogelvie, lies inside the burial enclosure of the McInnes family in Cardross Old Parish Church. Very little is known of Felicity’s life, other than she was born…
Charles Murray (?-1776): Trailtrow Chapel and Repentance Tower, Hoddom, Nr Lockerbie DG11 1AS High above the remains of Hoddom Castle near Lockerbie is the haunting presence of Repentance Tower, surrounded by a burial ground. Amongst the headstones is one dedicated to Charles Murray, “a native of Africa”, who died in…
Scipio Kennedy (c.1694-1774): Kirkoswald Old Parish Church and Graveyard, Ayrshire, Kirk Rd, Maybole KA19 8HZ In Kirkoswald Old Church graveyard, there is a stone commemorating the life of Scipio Kennedy erected by one of his sons, Douglas. Whilst the stone does not explicitly say that Scipio is buried there, it…
‘Robert Story’ (c.1818-1848): St Modan’s Parish Church, Rosneath Road, Rosneath G84 0RQ At the edge of the kirkyard of St Modan’s old parish church is an impressive headstone dedicated to a “Robert Story”. The inscription tells us that he was captured at a very young age in western Africa and…
Leonora Casey Carr (1808-26 April 1837): Tytherton Moravian Church, East Tytherton, Chippenham, SN15 4LX A simple slab in a Moravian churchyard was recently revealed as that of a former slave. Leonora Carr was born in Antigua, the daughter of a planter, George Carr, and a mulatto slave, Fanny Loving. As…
Myrtilla (d.1706) - dated 1705, in accordance with the Old Style or Julian calendar: St Lawrence Church, Oxhill, near Stratford-upon-Avon CV35 0QZ Myrtilla’s grave is one of oldest surviving graves of someone of African descent in Britain. Although the inscription states that she was the slave of Thomas Beauchamp, the…
Cesar Picton (c.1755-1838): All Saints Church, The Market Place, Kingston upon Thames KT1 High on the wall of All Saints Church in the centre of Kingston upon Thames is a small plaque, which simply reads: “C.P. 1838”. Cesar Picton’s minimal memorial was stipulated in his will, and is the final,…
Mumu (c.1841-1866): Locksbrook Cemetery, 5 Cedric Rd, Bath BA1 3PD Mumu’s story reminds us that whilst slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833, that wasn’t the case elsewhere. In 1846, when she was about five years old, she was rescued from a slave ship by a British Cruiser serving as…