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.

Michael Henry Pascal

Guerin Family

Robert King

King Gustavus Vasa

Ambrose Lace

John Annis

Richard Baker

King Gustav III

Doctor Brady

Campbell [Mr.]

Robertson, William [Captain]

Daniel Queen [Quin]

Doctor Perkins

Sir John Fielding

Emanuel Sankey

Mr. Read

Smith

Terry Legay

James Tobin

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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.

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.

James Tobin

(1736 â€“ 1817)

James Tobin was born in 1736 in London and was educated at Westminster School. He was an eminent plantation owner and one of the proslavery activists in the West Indies. He was also a member of the Bristol and London West India Committee. The West India Association was organized by the Society of Merchant Venturers to support the slave trade. Tobin moved to Nevis in 1758 to work at his family’s plantation business at Stoney Grove Estate. He married Elizabeth nee Webbe, daughter of Nevis slave owner George Webbe in 1766 upon his return to England. They lived in Salisbury and had eight children together.

Tobin was an active campaigner and a member of his Majesty's Council in Nevis. He was opposed to abolition and campaigned for the slave trade. He advocated for the slave trade and argued that putting a stop to this would bring him among many businesses’ financial difficulties. Especially as a plantation owner who abused African slaves working for him from day to night, without slaves, his business would be affected poorly.

During 1778, a court in Edinburgh had declared slavery illegal in Scotland. So, by the 1780s and ‘90s slave trading was not at its peak, but still one of the major ones. Which made Tobin in 1784 James join John Pretor Pinney to start a new business in Bristol. The house of Pinney & Tobin was responsible for providing supplies and shipping the plantation produce to England. They mostly conducted business with the West Indies but also occasionally with North America.

Tobin started his attack on Ramsay an abolitionist on his 168-page “Cursory Remarks upon the Reverend Mr. Ramsay's Essay”, which was published in London in 1785. His battle with Ramsay was ongoing until 1788. Tobin later on mendaciously claimed to "most sincerely join Mr. Ramsay, and every other man of sensibility, in hoping, the blessings of freedom will in due time, be equally diffused over the face of the whole globe," but he soon criticizes Ramsay as a hypocrite in his treatment of his slaves. Referring to him as "this reverend satiris.” Ramsay wrote back in “A Farewell Address to the Rev. Mr. James Ramsay”. Vassa also wrote a reply to Tobin’s attack in 1788, in The Public Advertiser. Vassa lashed out on two of his pamphlets, and a related book from 1786 by Gordon Turnbull.

Vassa also attacked Tobin, when he expressed solid hostility toward interracial marriages by writing publicly, "A more foolish prejudice than this never warped a cultivated mind - for as no contamination of the virtues of the heart would result from the union, the mixture of colour would be of no consequence."

As an active member of the Bristol West India Association and a plantation owner, Tobin was summoned to provide evidence to the House of Commons inquiry into the slave trade in 1790. His will was proved on 30 October 1817. He left an annuity of £500 p.a. to his wife and £1000 to his younger sons.

Prepared by Golgisoo Jafari, 21 September 2021

RELATED FILES AND IMAGES

REFERENCES

This webpage was last updated on 2021-11-15 by Saloni Pande

“Planting the Sugar-Cane” (1820), etching, engraving , watercolor, image depicting enslaved Africans suffering on a sugar cane plantation. National Maritime Museum, Infant School Society Depository, London.

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