Ottobah cugoano biography of william

Explore the fascinating history and personalities of St James’s, including Ottobah Cugoano, William Blake and the bombing of the church in May 1940 – with much more featured in our interactive online tour

Quobna Ottobah Cugoano

A new plaque commemorating the 250th anniversary of the baptism of Quobna Ottobah Cugoano at St James’s Church was dedicated on 20 August 2023 during the Sunday service. Cugoano was one of the most prominent abolitionists of the time and a significant but largely forgotten figure in the history of Black Britain.

In addition, a new permanent artwork to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the baptism of Quobna Ottobah Cugoano at St James’s Church will be unveiled on 20 September 2023.

Detail of a 1784 engraving of Ottobah bygd Richard Cosway © Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Cugoano250

Quobna Cugoano: London church honours Ghanaian-born freed slave and abolitionist

Brendan Delzin

Artist Che Lovelace was on his way to the coast on the Caribbean island of Trinidad to collect mud to use in carnival celebrations when he received a message that a church in the UK wanted him to create an artwork to commemorate the life of an African man he had never heard of.

Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was a respected abolitionist in 18th Century Britain - but, despite his significant role in the abolition of the slave trade and slavery, his story is not that well-known.

Cugoano was born in the Gold Coast, today's Ghana. He was enslaved when he was 13 - captured with about 20 others as they were playing in a field.

His destination was the sugar plantations of the Caribbean island of Grenada. On board the ship taking him across the Atlantic Ocean, there was, as Cugoano writes, "nothing to be heard but the rattling of chains, smacking of whips, and the groans and

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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

Family

Gustavus Vassa was born in 1745 in the Igbo region of the Kin