Granville Sharp
Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was an English scholar, philanthropist and one of the first campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.
Granville Sharp's efforts culminated in 1772 when he was instrumental in securing Lord Mansfield's ruling in Somerset v Stewart, which held that slavery had no basis in English law.
In addition to his abolitionist cause, Sharp also championed the creation of a free colony in Sierra Leone, which encouraged black people in Britain to settle in west Africa.
Sharp had an excellent bass voice, described by George III as "the best in Britain", and he played the clarinet, oboe, flageolet, kettle drums, harp and a double-flute which he had made himself.
The vicar would not allow a funeral sermon to be preached in the church because Sharp had been involved with the British and Foreign Bible Society, which was Nonconformist.
Strong was a young black slave from Barbados who had been badly beaten by his master, David Lisle, a lawyer, with a pistol to the head.
Afterwards, a West India Captain named David Laird grabbed Jonathan Strong's arm and claimed he would take him as James Kerr's property.
Sharp, at the suggestion of Thomas Beech, the Coroner of London, threatened to charge Laird with assault should he attempt to take Strong by force.
[2] The Strong case made a name for Sharp as the "protector of the Negro"[citation needed] and he was approached by two more slaves, although in both cases (Hylas v Newton and R v Stapylton) the results were unsatisfactory, and it became plain that the judiciary – and Lord Mansfield, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench (the leading judge of the day) in particular – was trying very hard not to decide the issue.
On 13 January 1772, Sharp was visited and asked for help by James Somerset, an indigenous person of Africa who had been brought to America to be sold in the Colony of Virginia.
Members of the public responded to Somerset's plight by sending money to pay for his lawyers (who in the event all gave their services pro bono publico), while Stewart's costs were met by the West Indian planters and merchants.
It was no such thing: it dealt only with the question of the forcible sending of someone overseas into bondage; a slave becomes free the moment they set foot on English territory.
The Zong's crew had mis-navigated her course and overestimated water supplies; according to the maritime law notion of general average, cargo purposely jettisoned at sea to save the remainder was eligible for insurance compensation.
Sharp was visited on 19 March 1783 by Olaudah Equiano, a famous freed slave and later to be the author of a successful autobiography, who told him of the horrific events aboard the Zong.
Sharp immediately became involved in the court case, facing his old adversary over slave trade matters, the Solicitor General for England and Wales, John Lee.
Lee notoriously declared that "the case was the same as if assets had been thrown overboard", and that a master could drown slaves without "a surmise of impropriety".
The judge ruled that the Zong's owners could not claim insurance on the slaves: the lack of sufficient water demonstrated that the cargo had been badly managed.
[11] When Sharp heard that the Act of Abolition had at last been passed by both Houses of Parliament and given Royal Assent on 25 March 1807, he fell to his knees and offered a prayer of thanksgiving.
He was regarded as the grand old man of the abolition struggle, and although a driving force in its early days, his place had later been taken by others such as Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect.
Henry Smeathman, a plant collector and entomologist who had visited Sierra Leone, propounded to the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor that the country would be an excellent location.
[14] The utopian ideal quickly went sour in the face of tremendous logistical difficulties; fire broke out even before the ships had left London.
[15][16] The settlers arrived in May 1787, at the onset of the five-month rainy season, and a settlement of sorts was built, named Granville Town.
The commander of the naval escort that had brought the settlers concluded that they were unfit for the complex challenge of founding a new settlement in a potentially hostile environment.
When he realised his job in the Ordnance Office meant sending equipment to British forces fighting the colonists, he took leave of absence.
[6] One of Granville's letters written in 1778 (published in 1798), propounded what has come to be known as The Granville Sharp Rule (in actuality only the first of six principles that Sharp articulated involving the Greek article): This rule, if true, has a profound bearing on Unitarian doctrine, which led to a ‘celebrated controversy’, in which many leading divines took part, including Christopher Wordsworth.
at the age of 79 this venerable Philanthropist terminated his Career of almost unparalleled activity and usefulness July 6th 1813 Leaving behind him a name That will be Cherished with Affection and Gratitude as long as any homage shall be paid to those principles of JUSTICE HUMANITY and RELIGION which for nearly half a Century He promoted by his Exertions and adorned by his Example" A reredos erected a generation later in All Saints' Church, Fulham, reads: "This reredos was erected in 1845 to the honor of God and in memory of William Sharp of Fulham House, Surgeon to King George III, Catherine his wife, daughter of Thomas Barwick, Granville Sharp, his brother..."[29] Sharp's portrait was made many times, both during his life and afterwards.
In recognition of Sharp's historical importance and preparation for the anniversary, the tomb was listed as Grade II on 16 March 2007, only three months after the application was made to English Heritage and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
The tomb was restored in June 2007[2] and a ceremony to mark the completion of the work was held in the church, attended by many notable figures including the historian Simon Schama.
His collection of 'music, printed and in manuscript' was sold by Leigh & Sotheby in London on 7 February 1814 (and two following days); a copy is at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.162(5)).
[citation needed] Among the papers at Gloucestershire Archives is a transcription of a work song sung by enslaved Africans in the sugar-cane fields of Barbados.
