Sancho was born on a slave ship bound for Colombia. His mother died soon after arriving and his father killed himself soon afterwards rather than live as a slave. When he was two he was brought to England by his owner and given to his three maiden sisters in Greenwich.

He taught himself to read and write, entered the service of the Dukes of Montague and became a trusted servant and favorite "pet" of English high society. He also sat for his portrait by Gainsborough.

He was left a legacy in the 1750s, but wasted it on women and gambling and later opened a grocery shop, married and had six children. He was a friend of the author Laurence Sterne.

His Letters, published after his death, were very popular. In 1997 the National Portrait Gallery in London held an exhibition on his life.

References

Fryer, Peter. Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain. (London: Pluto Press, 1984)
Dictionary of National Biography
Bygott, David. Black and British. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)
Tredre, Roger. "Slave Boy Who Wowed Literary London," Guardian Weekly, 2 February 1997 [Originally published in the London Observer]
King, Rayahn, et al. Ignatius Sancho: An African Man of Letters. (London: National Portrait Gallery, 1997)
Obiechina, Emmanuel."1994 Ahiajoku Lecture. Nchetaka: The Story, Memory and Continuity of Igbo Culture." Available at: http://www.lioness.cm.utexas.edu/*../I-files/Igbo.dir/Ahiajoku_Lectures/ahiajoku_Lec94.htm

Indexes

African
Uk/great Britain
18th Century
Business and Industry
Domestic Service
Journalism
Birth or Infancy
Orphaned (Both Parents)
Slaves
Wealthy, Famous, Noble or Divine Adoptive or Foster Families
Trans-Racial, Trans-Tribal, International or Trans-Cultural Adoption or Fostering
Parent(s) Died, Disappeared or Became Incapacitated
Tracing Impossible or Birth Family Extinct