The following extract from A Narrative of the Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, An African Prince, related by himself (1770) touches on his experiences of Portsmouth, which were decidedly mixed. While the fact that Gronniosaw spent time in the city may at first seem surprising, it reflects its status as a port town inextricably bound up with Britain’s economic and military networks. Equiano’s responses to Portsmouth as an outsider are brief but extremely interesting, and cast some light on the social history of the city in the late eighteenth century. The greatest irony in the extract is the contrast between Gronniosaw’s idealised expectation of England and the English and the reality of the country and its inhabitants. Gronniosaw was appalled by the general behaviour of the inhabitants and what he perceived as their lack of Christian faith, and by his experience of being swindled, but he also records acts of kindness made on his behalf by one family. Gronniosaw’s reference to Portsmouth Common indicates the older name for what is now called Portsea:

I had a vast inclination to visit England, and wished continually that it would please Providence to make a clear way for me to see this island. I entertained a notion that if I could get to England, I should never more experience either cruelty or ingratitude; so that I was very desirous to get among Christians. I knew Mr Whitfield very well. I had often heard him preach at New York. In this disposition I enlisted in the 28th regiment of foot, who were designed for Martinico [Martinique], in the late war. We went in Admiral Pocock’s fleet from New York to Barbadoes and from thence to Martinico. When that was taken, we proceeded to the Havannah [Havana], and took that place likewise. There I got discharged. I was at that time worth about thirty pounds, but I never regarded money in the least. I would not tarry for my prize-money, lest I should lose my chance of going to England. I went with the Spanish prisoners to Spain, and came to Old England with the English prisoners. I cannot describe my joy when we arrived within sight of Portsmouth. But I was astonished, when we landed, to hear the inhabitants of that place curse and swear, and be otherwise profane. I expected to find nothing but goodness, gentleness, and meekness in this Christian land, and I suffered great perplexity of mind at seeing so much wickedness.

I inquired if any serious Christian people resided there, and the woman I made the inquiry of answered me in the affirmative, and added that she was one of them. I was heartily glad to hear her say so. I thought I could give her my whole heart. She kept a public house. I deposited with her all the money that I had not an immediate occasion for, as I thought it would be safer with her. I gave her twenty-five guineas, six of which I desired her to lay out to the best advantage, in buying me some shirts, a hat, and some other necessaries. I made her a present of a very handsome large looking glass that I brought with me from Martinico in order to recompense her for the trouble I had given her. I must do this woman the justice to acknowledge that she did lay out some little for my use, but the nineteen guineas, and part of the six guineas, with my watch, she would not return, but denied that I ever gave them to her.

I soon perceived that I had got amongst bad people, who defrauded me of money and watch, and that all my promised happiness was blasted. I had no friend but God, and I prayed to him earnestly. I could scarcely believe it possible that the place where so many eminent Christians had lived and preached could abound with so much wickedness and deceit. I thought it worse than Sodom, considering the great advantage they possessed. I cried like a child, and that almost continually. At length, God heard my prayers, and raised me up a friend indeed.

The publican had a brother who lived on Portsmouth Common, whose wife was a very serious, good woman. When she heard of the treatment I had met with, she came and inquired into my real situation, and was greatly troubled by the ill usage I had received, and she took me home to her own house. I now began to rejoice, and my prayer was turned into praise. She made use of all the arguments in her power to prevail upon her who had wronged me to return my watch and money, but it was to no purpose, as she had given me no receipt, and I had nothing to show for it; so that I could not demand it. My good friend was excessively angry with her, and obliged her to give me back four guineas, which she said she gave me out of charity, though, in fact, it was my own, and a great deal more. She would have employed other means to oblige her to give up my money, but I would not suffer her. “Let it go,” said I; “ my God is in heaven.” I did not mind my loss in the least. All that grieved me was that I had been disappointed in finding some Christian friends, with whom I hoped to enjoy a little sweet and comfortable society.

I thought the best method that I could take now was to go to London, and find out Mr Whitfield, who was the only living soul that I knew in England, and get him to direct me how to procure a living without being troublesome to any person. I took leave of my Christian friends at Portsmouth, and went in the stage to London.

Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (b.1710?, Bornu, d. 28 Sept. 1775) was born in modern-day Nigeria, and led an astonishing and varied life, becoming the first published black author in Britain with his A Narrative of the Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, An African Prince (1770).

From his earliest days, Gronniosaw was strangely drawn to ideas of monotheistic religion, a fact which marked him as an outside in his family and community. Tricked into taking a boat to the Gold Coast, he was sold into slavery, being purchased by a Dutch captain and taken to Barbados, where he was sold again to a succession of owners in New York and New Jersey. During his time with the family of the Calvinist minister, Theodorus Frelinghuysen, Gronniosaw was taught to read and formally became a Christian, and in 1747, after Frelinghuysen died, he achieved his freedom. Gronniosaw saw periods as a privateer and a British army soldier in the West Indies, where he took part in the 1759 Invasion of Martinique and the 1762 Siege of Havana.

Thereafter he realised his long-held dream of visiting Britain, which he perceived as a heartland of Christianity. Disappointed by his experiences of Portsmouth, where he was swindled, Gronniosaw settled in London, married a weaver named Betty, with whom he had at least two children. There followed periods of varied work and hardship in London, Colchester, Norwich, and Kidderminster. It was in Worcestershire that Gronniosaw wrote his work, the first known slave narrative, which received widespread praise and attention, made Gronniosaw some money, and ran through several editions. The work does not contain the fully-realised condemnation of the institutions and practices of slavery that characterise later slave narratives, but it offers fascinating insights into the routine racism and mistreatment faced by black people, free or enslaved, in the Americas and Britain. It was profoundly influential on subsequent slave narratives, including The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789) by Olaudah Equiano, and *Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) by Frederick Douglass, and has remained in print to the present day.

It is unclear whether Gronniosaw’s death in 1775 took place in Kidderminster or Chester, but an obituary appeared in the Chester Chronicle

On Thursday [28 September] died, in this city, aged 70, James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, of Zaara. He left his country in the early part of his life, with a view to acquire proper notions of the Divine Being, and of the worship due to Him. He met with many trials and embarrassments, was much afflicted and persecuted. His last moments exhibited that chearful [sic] serenity which, at such a time, is the certain effect of a thorough conviction of the great truths of Christianity. He published a narrative of his life.

If you have any comments, queries, corrections, or suggestions on any of the map entries, please contact the Map Director: mark.frost@port.ac.uk