 |
|
|
 | | |  |
Black roots: Francis Barber |
 |
Intermarriage
After Johnson's death in 1784, and on his advice, Barber settled in Lichfield with the woman he had married in 1776. At the time intermarriage was a highly contentious issue. Equiano wrote in the London newspaper the Public Advertiser, "Why not establish intermarriage at home, and in our colonies, and encourage open, free and generous love upon Nature's own wide and extensive plan, subservient only to moral rectitude, without distinction of the colour of skin". A racist reader of the London Chronicle accused black people of using mixed marriages as a means of "washing the Blackamoor white".
Samuel Johnson statue in Lichfield |
Barber and his wife Elizabeth faced discrimination from those around them on account of their marriage. Slurs against her morality were a way for racist commentators of the time to denigrate the match and explain how a white woman could marry a black man. Hawkins is particularly vitriolic in his assessment of Elizabeth. He describes how Barber "picked up one of those creatures with whom, in the disposal of themselves, no contrariety of colour is an obstacle". The validity of Hawkins accusation is undermined by the fact that Johnson welcomed Elizabeth, or Betsy as he called her, into his house. He evidently approved of the match.
According to reports, Barber himself had qualms about his marriage. Mrs Piozzi, wife of Hester, a great friend of Johnson, describes an incident when Barber became so wracked with jealousy over his "eminently pretty wife" that Johnson had to talk him out of walking to London in a rage. Whatever the racial animosity their union attracted, Francis and Elizabeth had three children and spent their remaining days in Lichfield. Dennis Barber, a descendent of Francis, lives in Market Drayton in Shropshire. When asked in a recent 大象传媒 interview about his thoughts on Francis and his connection to him, Dennis said "When he [Francis] lived in Lichfield as a young man, it was rare to see a black man in Staffordshire so yes, I feel very proud".
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. |
| | | |
| | |
| |
|
