The term runaway slave is one that accepts the framing of the enslaver, legitimising the institution of slavery while criminalising those who seek to be free. Resistance to slavery was a constant throughout the black Atlantic but the efforts of freedom seekers in London are less well known than those in the Americas.

In this episode Jonathan Goddard interviews Simon P. Newman, an Emeritus professor of history at the University of Glasgow, who has written a prize-winning book, entitled: "Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London". The discussion includes the narratives of those who sought freedom in the 17th and 18th centuries, analysis of the media that carried adverts for humans who sought to escape enslavement and much more.

For more information and the show notes, go to: http://www.blackinthecity.uk

Black in The City of London is a podcast dedicated to examining the black experience in the Square Mile. In this episode Jonathan Goddard interviews Howard Doble, the senior archivist at the London Metropolitan Archive, about the Unforgotten Lives exhibition and the work done at the LMA to represent the experiences of global majority peoples in London from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Black in The City of London is a podcast dedicated to examining the black experience in the Square Mile, aiming to tell the stories of black people who have connections to the City, from antiquity until the present day. For more information and for the episode’s show notes, go to: ⁠http://www.blackinthecity.uk⁠

Black in The City of London is a podcast dedicated to examining the black experience in the Square Mile. In this episode Jonathan Goddard interviews Brycchan Carey: an academic, author, and public speaker, whose interests include the history of natural history, slavery and abolition, empire, and Black British history and literature. They discuss the lives and writings of Ignatius Sancho and Olaudah Equiano.

The music that introduces this episode is provided by the wonderful Green Ginger ensemble, who specialise in historical dance music. You can purchase their renditions of Ignatius Sancho's Cotillions Etc from the following links:

https://greenginger.bandcamp.com/album/ignatius-sancho-cotillions-etc

https://greengingerband.co.uk/

In the second half of the episode, Jonathan Goddard interviews Celine Luppo McDaid, the Donald Hyde Curator and the Director of Dr. Johnson’s House, a museum near Fleet Street, which celebrates and documents the life of Dr. Samuel Johnson. They discuss the life and significance of Johnson’s Jamaican manservant, Francis Barber.

Black in The City of London is a podcast dedicated to examining the black experience in the Square Mile, aiming to tell the stories of black people who have connections to the City, from antiquity until the present day. For more information and for the episode’s show notes, go to: http://www.blackinthecity.uk