Ignatius Sancho

Ignatius Sancho was the first African prose writer whose work was published in England. Ignatius Sancho was the first African prose writer whose work was published in England.

A former slave and renowned shopkeeper, Sancho came to England at the age of two, it was 1731. The Duke of Montague made him presents of books to cultivate the mind of a knowledge hungry Sancho. Later he went to serve the Dukes Widow at her home.

Sancho was a great friend of the actor Garrick. It was at Garrick’s suggestion that Sancho attempted acting the black roles of Othello and Orinooko, however he was thwarted by his speech impediment.

It was from his Grocers shop on Charles Street in Westminster that Sancho wrote his famous letters, and received his correspondents who included Garrick, The Montagues, the sculptor Nollekins and the writer Laurence Sterne.

Amongst his achievements Sancho was almost certainly the model for a character ‘Shina Cambo’ in the 1790 novel ‘Memoirs and opinions of Mr Blenfield’. This novel is perhaps the first instance in English Literature where white men visit the home of a Black family as equals and when black people are shown as integrated into White English Society. Sancho also enjoyed composing

Sancho died in 1780, two years after his death his Letters were published. They attracted over 1,200 subscibers, the highest subscription of any author of his time for 70 years. He was also painted by Gainsborough and it is also plausible that he was depicted in Hogarths’ Taste of the high Life 1742.

Further reading:

• Letters of Ignatus Sancho, Ed Paul Edwards, London: Dawsons of Pall Mall.
• Staying Power: the history of Black people in Britain, Peter Fryer, (Pluto press, London 1984.
• Black England : Life before Emancipation, Gretchen Gerzina, (John Murray, London 1996)
• England Writer Brycchan Carey
• Liverpool Museums