Black Tudors: The Untold Story

John Blanke

This section is an excerpt from John Blanke.[edit]

John Blanke (also rendered Blancke or Blaaak) (fl. 1501–1511) was a musician of African descent in London from the early Tudor period, who probably came to England as one of the African attendants of Catherine of Aragon in 1501. He is one of the earliest documented Africans in what is now the United Kingdom after the Roman period. His name may refer to his skin colour, derived either from the word "black" or possibly from the French word "blanc", meaning white.

Jacques Francis

Diego, a circumnavigator

Edward Swarthye, a porter

Edward Swarthye was a black porter in the Gloucestershire household of Sir Edward Wynter. He was most likely brought to England after Francis Drake's Caribbean raid of 1585–86. In 1596, Swarthye publicly administered a whipping of John Guye, Wynter’s ironworks manager and the future governor of Newfoundland, at White Cross Manor. The incident was connected to a feud between the Wynter and Bucke families. Swarthye subsequently testified before the Court of Star Chamber in 1597. Kaufmann points out that the court's acceptance of his testimony was evidence that he was a free man.

Reasonable Blackman

Reasonable Blackman (fl. 1579–1592) (also possibly known as John Reason, Reasonable Blakemore and Reasonable Blackmore)^{[page needed]} was an independent silk weaver who lived in Southwark, London, in the late 16th century. Based on his name, a number of sources since the 2010s have suggested he may have been among the earliest African people to live in Britain.^: 121 If he was of African origin, he may have come to London via the Netherlands, which had a tiny African population at the time from Spanish and Portuguese colonies^: 120 and also a significant trade in silk.

Blackman's life is only known from a handful of mentions in administrative documents. The first record of Reasonable is dated to 1579 in the Parish records of St Saviour's church (later Southwark Cathedral), looking for a reservation for the Easter Sunday service. Historian Miranda Kaufmann has argued that in these documents he is described specifically as a "blackmor" or "blackmore", a popular term at the time used to denote people of a Sub Saharan African origin, rather than merely having the surname "Blackman" or "Blackmore", which in the 16th century could not be confidently used to indicate African origin, as these surnames were used by local English people, with their usage deriving from having dark hair, an origin in the various settlements named Moore, More, Blackmore, Blackmoor (including the one in Hampshire and Somerset), and Blakemere, or even simply that they lived in the vicinity of a moor. By 1587 Blackman was married and therefore clearly had sufficient means to support a family. It has been suggested that he made costumes for the theatres in the area.

He had at least three children, of whom at least one, Edward, was baptised at St Olave's Church, Southwark in February 1587. A fourth child with a similar surname, John Blakemore, who was also baptised at St Olave's on 26 October 1579, may also have been his.^: 123 Two of his children, Edmund and Jane, died of bubonic plague in 1592. They were buried with due ritual in St Olave's churchyard.^: 132

Mary Fillis, a Moroccan convert

Dederi Jaquoah, a Prince of River Cestos

John Anthony, a mariner of Dover

John Anthony was an African mariner living in Dover who, Kaufmann argues, probably arrived in England in the winter of 1615 with the pirate Henry Mainwaring.

In March 1619, he sailed aboard the Silver Falcon on an expedition intended to trade with Virginia and northwards, towards Canada. The ship instead acquired tobacco near Bermuda, possibly through piracy, and docked at Flushing in the Netherlands before returning to Dover. A dispute between the investors who financed the voyage delayed the payment of crew wages, leaving Anthony indebted for food, lodging and washing and forcing him to mortgage his best clothes. He was paide with interest in March 1620. Kaufmann interprets his relatively high earnings as suggesting skilled work, perhaps as a quartermaster, carpenter or gunner, and emphasises that his paid employment and successful pursuit of his wages demonstrate freedom and agency. This would have been in contrast to the experience of African slaves, brought to Virginia in 1619.

Anne Cobbie

Anne Cobbie worked as a prostitute in the 1620s at a brothel run by John and Jane Bankes in Westminster. Men reportedly would pay her a gold coin worth 22 shillings, rather than the five shillings paid to other women, because of the softness of her skin. She was described by another prostitute, Mary Hall, as a "tawny moore", which Kaufmann suggests indicates North African origins or mixed African and English parentage, although neither is established. Cobbie was among ten women named when the Bankeses were charged with keeping a brothel in 1626; while the couple were briefly imprisoned, the article states that Cobbie escaped punishment.

Cattelena of Almondsbury

Cattelena (died 1625) was a woman who lived in Almondsbury, England.

She is primarily known from her posthumous inventory dated 1625. Her Hispanic name suggests origins connected to Spanish or Portuguese territories. The term "independent singlewoman" from her inventory indicates she was both unmarried, like about 30 per cent of Tudor women, and self-reliant.

Cattelena's livelihood seemingly derived from her most valuable possession, a cow, suggesting she traded surplus dairy products. Despite this, her means were modest, as evidenced by her shared accommodation and the humble belongings listed in her inventory.