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We do not know exactly how many people of African origin were living in Britain in the late 18th century. Many were here as a result of the Transatlantic Trade in enslaved Africans.

• Some came with their owners from North America and the West Indies, brought to work as servants to the household. One example of this was Mary Prince, who was brought here forcibly in 1828 but then escaped with the help of white servants. We know this from her autobiography, the first book published in Britain by a black female author.
• Most arrived as servants and lived in Britain in similar conditions to other servants. We know this because of well known examples such as Francis Barber who was the man-servant of Samuel Johnson, an English writer.
• A few achieved high status. They included Ignatius Sancho, who composed classical music, owned property and had the right to vote. There were also Africans from high class families sent here for education.
• Others were brought here to be sold on the quaysides and in the coffee houses of slave ports such as Bristol and Liverpool. We know this from posters advertising the sales. This was in spite of the fact the slavery was unlawful in Britain.

After emancipation, when Parliament abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, and during the 19th century black people continued to come here in smaller numbers and settle. They included refugees escaping enslavement in the United States of America.

Others who were forced to come here were merchant seamen from India, Africa and the West Indies who were hired in their homelands but then abandoned in ports on their arrival here, becoming ‘accidental migrants’. Opposition from white seamen and their union meant it was hard for them to get jobs on ships which could return them to their homes.