 |
|
|
 | | |  |
Black roots: Francis Barber |
 |
Francis Barber and Samuel Johnson
Barber spent his first year in England learning to read and write at a village school in Barton, Yorkshire. The education of slaves in Britain was rare and only carried out by forward-thinking masters such as Bathurst. The Duke of Marlborough and Lord Chesterfield are two known society figures who paid for the education of their slaves. After his schooling, Barber entered Samuel Johnson's house as his servant. Two years later, Colonel Bathurst, Barber's master, died and left Barber £12 and his freedom. He went to work for an apothecary's assistant in Cheapside, but remained in touch with Johnson.
Dr Johnson left Francis Barber this ring in his will
© Courtesy of the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum |
Without any children of his own, Johnson assumed a protective parental role towards Barber. When Barber went to sea onboard the HMS Stag, Johnson used his contacts to secure his release. Johnson evidently disapproved of Barber's plans to become a sailor and convinced him to return to work in his house. At a cost of £300, paid for by Johnson, Barber returned to education for five years and later began to work as Johnson's manservant and secretary.
Johnson's views on slavery were well documented. On one occasion he famously made a toast to the "next insurrection of the negroes in the West Indies". However, that is not to say he viewed Barber as an equal. When he appealed to Sir George Hay in the Admiralty to secure Barber's release from HMS Stag, he described Barber as "given to him". He took it upon himself to remove Barber form a career path he had chosen, evidently believing that he, Johnson, had his best interests at heart.
Johnson's will is the strongest evidence of his attachment to and respect of Barber. When one of Johnson's acquaintances and later his biographer, Sir John Hawkins, told Johnson that £50 per annum was a generous sum to leave a faithful servant, Johnson replied by saying he was leaving Barber £70 a year. His generous annuity of £70 was in addition to the charge of his books and papers. The high regard with which Johnson treated Barber infuriated many of his contemporaries.
In his biography of Samuel Johnson, Sir John Hawkins is particularly vindictive towards Barber, whose authority over Johnson's literary work evidently infuriated him. He writes: "I know it is considered an offence of a heinous magnitude to weight any claim against the merits of Francis Barber". Hawkins disagreed so strongly with Johnson's decision to bequeath valuable possessions to Barber, he attempted to acquire them for himself.
Your comments
| |
 Print this page |
|
Archive
Look back into the past using the Legacies' archives. Find nearly 200 tales from around the country in our collection.
Read more > |
| | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external Web sites. |
| | | |
| | |
| |
|
