Equiano's World

ASSOCIATES

Gustavus Vassa was acquainted with a number of prominent individuals, and he probably knew others for whom there is no documentary evidence. He also referred to other individuals whom he knew, especially in London, about whom little if anything known beyond Vassa's reference. There were also several associations and affiliations that referred to groups, such as the Huntingdonians, the Black Poor, the Sons of Africa, and the London Corresponding Society. By highlighting the individuals Vassa knew or possibly knew, Vassa's world expands considerably, and the list increases exponentially with his book tours and the sale of subscriptions to his autobiography, ultimately generating hundreds of individuals who purchased at least one copy of his book. Vassa's associates are divided into seven categories: Family, Slavery, Abolition, Religion, Scientific, Military and Subscribers.

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Family

Gustavus Vassa was born in 1745 in the Igbo region of the Kingdom of Benin, today southern Nigeria. He was the youngest son in a family of six sons and a daughter. He was stolen with his sister and sold into slavery at the age of 11. Not much is known about his Igbo family, aside from what is included in his memoir. In 1792, he married a white woman named Suzannah Cullen. The couple had two daughters, Anne Marie Vassa and Joanna Vassa. Anne Marie passed away shortly after Vassa’s death. Joanna went on to marry a congregationalist minister named Reverend Henry Bromley. The lives of his family members are detailed in this section.

Slavery

Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped when he was about eleven or twelve and arrived in Barbados in mid 1754. During his experience as a slave before he was able to purchase his own freedom in 1767, he was associated with a number of individuals, three of whom were his owner, a Mr. Campbell in Virginia, Captain Michael Henry Pascal, and merchant Robert King. The section also includes his two closest friends during his enslavement, Richard Baker and John Annis, and King Gustavus Vasa I of Sweden, his namesake, and finally Ambrose Lace, a leading Liverpool slave trader.

Abolition

Gustavus Vassa became a leading member of the abolitionist movement in the middle to late 1780s, publishing the first edition of his autobiography in the spring of 1789 as Parliament opened its hearings into the slave trade. This section identifies many of the individuals with whom Vassa was associated in the struggle to end the slave trade and to expose the barbarities of slavery.

Religion

Through his slave master, Michael Henry Pascal, Gustavus Vassa was introduced to the Guerin family, relatives of Pascal who were devoutly religious. The Guerin sisters taught Vassa how to read and write, and instructed him on the principles of Christianity. Under their guidance, Vassa was baptized in 1759. Six years later, in 1765, Vassa heard the famous Calvinist Methodist preacher, George Whitefield, preach in Savannah. Whitefield and the Countess of Huntingdon’s Calvinist orientation of Methodism had a profound influence on Vassa. Throughout his life, he was affiliated with many religious figures, such as the Quakers, who were one of the first organizations to take a collective stand against the institution of slavery.

Scientific

In 1772, Gustavus Vassa was employed by Dr. Charles Irving to help him with the operation of a sea water distillation apparatus on two ships. This was the first of many scientific connections that Vassa developed over the years. He participated in an exploration of the Arctic alongside Dr. Irving and Constantine John Phipps. He was recruited to be part of a plantation scheme in the Mosquito Shore, which introduced him to Alexander Blair, an investor who was connected to distinguished chemist James Keir and the famed steam machine inventor, James Watt. As Vassa’s narrative gained popularity, his life story peaked the interest of the so-called “father of physical anthropology,” Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. The men were mutually acquainted with the President and founder of the Royal Society, Joseph Banks and met in person. These connections, among others, are detailed in this section.

Military

Gustavus Vassa travelled extensively as a seaman. He fought in the Seven Years War, where he met war hero, General James Wolfe. When he eventually settled in London in the 1770s, he became deeply involved in the political sphere, landing him various government and military connections. In his fight against the institution of slavery, he wrote many letters to high ranking officials, some of which were presented in front of the House of Commons. He participated in a disastrous plantation scheme on the British-controlled Mosquito Shore, during which time he met the son of the Miskitu kings and soon to be King George II. He worked for a former government official of the short-lived Province of Senegambia, Matthias McNamara, and participated in a resettlement scheme for the black poor in the Sierra Leone peninsula. His connections with various military and government officials are listed here.

Matthias McNamara

Horatio Nelson

Edward Despard

James Wolfe

Robert Hodgson

King George I of Mosquito Shore

King George II of Mosquito Shore

King George III

William Pitt

Sir William Dolben

Thomas Wallace

Michael White

Thomas Steele

Mr. M’Intosh (William Macintosh)

Augustus Keppel

John Mondle

George Pitt

Captain Charles O’Hara

Subscribers

Like many other first-time authors in the 18 th century, Vassa followed a subscription-based model to secure funding for his autobiography, which he published himself. In this way, he was able to retain its copyright, a feat virtually unheard of for a black, formerly enslaved man during this period. To do so, he sold the book by subscription, convincing individuals to commit to purchasing the book prior to publication, for a discounted price. Vassa’s original list of subscribers to his first edition was 311,and by the 9th edition, it had increased to 894. This section provides a list of the subscribers for various editions of the narrative, which included many well-known abolitionists, religious figures, government officials, and others.

Captain Charles O’Hara

1740-1802

Captain Charles O’Hara was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1740; however, he was of Irish descent. Besides his service in the British military, he was also politically involved, made evident through his role as governor of Senegambia, the short-lived British colony in West Africa. Although against his orders, he was involved in the slave trade and was part of a Moorish raid that enslaved an estimated 8,000 people in Waalo in 1775. He was also an army officer in the American war of independence, rising to the rank of general.

O’Hara was appointed the royal governor for newly founded Province of Senegambia in November 1765. As governor, he was manipulative and aimed to make the African population dependent on British goods. For him, trade was not supposed to be mutually beneficial, and he instead found ways to promote British influence over the local people.. O’Hara was supposed to encourage immigration of European settlers to Senegambia and start plantations of indigo, tobacco, rice and cotton. However, his efforts were unsuccessful and in 1775, he shifted his focus to involvement in the slave trade.

In 1768 when Fort James in the Gambia River was attacked, O’Hara realised 400 to 500 soldiers were needed to defend the colony. This was not possible due to the casualties suffered after the Seven Years’ War ended in 1763. His superiors suggested recruiting Africans into the British military, but O’Hara rejected this plan fearing Africans would refuse to be subordinate when fighting beside British troops.Instead he relied on convicts recruited from the prisons of Britain. These convicts were disliked because of their bad character, and enslaved soldiers were conscripted. Even O’Hara purchased enslaved men as soldiers.

O’Hara was governor for ten years but was recalled 1776 by the Board of Trade after accusations that he was engaged in the slave trade. O’Hara was dismissed in June 1776.

The encounter between Captain O’Hara and Vassa, described in The Interesting Narrative, happened in London. Vassa was a free man at the time of this encounter and was seeking work as a hairdresser. For this, the Guerin sisters directed Vassa to O’Hara to find a hairdresser who would teach Vassa the craft. The Captain was kind to Vassa and helped him with this. This mention of O’Hara also suggests that Vassa previously knew him.

Vassa on Captain Charles O’Hara in The Interesting Narrative 9th ed.

“They answered me very politely, that they were sorry it did not suit them to take me as their servant, and asked me what business I should like to learn? I said, hair-dressing. They then promised to assist me in this; and soon after, they recommended me to a gentleman, whom I had known before, one Capt. O’Hara, who treated me with much kindness, and procured me a master, a hair-dresser, in Coventry-court, Haymarket, with whom he placed me. I was with this man from September till the February following. In that time, we had a neighbour in the same court, who taught the French-horn. He used to blow it so well that I was charmed with it and agreed with him to teach me to blow it. Accordingly, he took me in hand, and began to instruct me, and I soon learned all the three parts.” (Pg. 165-166)

Prepared by Lisa Raposo, 15 July 2021

RELATED FILES AND IMAGES

REFERENCES

Dziennik, Matthew P. “‘Till These Experiments Be Made’: Senegambia and British Imperial Policy in the Eighteenth Century.” The English Historical Review 130, no. 546 (2015): 1132–61.

Mullan, Anthony. “A Web of Imperial Connections: Surveyors and Planters in Eighteenth-Century Dominica.” Terrae Incognitae 48:2 (2016), 183-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/00822884.2016.1211356.

“The British Surrendering Their Arms to Gen. Washington, 1781 - National Portrait Gallery.” Accessed July 15, 2021. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw90944/The-British-Surrendering-their-Arms-to-Gen-Washington-1781.

Vassa, Gustavus. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, edited with an introduction and notes by Vincent Carretta, reprint of 9th edition (London and New York: Penguin, 2003).

This webpage was last updated on 2021-10-08 by Kartikay Chadha

Chris Brown, “The British Province of Senegamiba, 1758-1784: Colonial Failure on the West African Coast,” Queen’s University, 2018

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