George Africanus - Nottingham's first black entrepreneur
George Africanus was born in Sierra Leone in west Africa. At the age of three he arrived in England as a household slave of the Molyneux family of Wolverhampton. This family provided for George's education.
In 1772 a law was passed making it illegal to own a slave in England. George was apprenticed to a brassfounder in Wolverhampton. On completing his apprenticeship George was free to travel and work where he wished. We do not know why he chose to come to Nottingham; nevertheless he arrived in the borough as a free man in the 1780s. The surviving documents concerning George's life show that he was an active and responsible citizen who integrated with the community. As an individual who experienced being a slave first-hand, his life is one of success and achievement against the odds.
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