The Long Look Estate in East End, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, claims to be the oldest free black community in the Western world.
[1] In 1776 Samuel Nottingham, a Quaker, manumitted 25 slaves and gave them 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land in Long Look in Tortola, directing them to cultivate it for the common good.
That 12 of the grown up Persons are admitted Members of the Westleyan Methodist Society, and with their Children attend regularly the Methodist Chapel at the East End of the Island ... since their Emancipation to the present Day none of them have been sued in Court, or brought before a Magistrate to answer a complaint against them.
[2] The measure was not universally popular, as it made it more difficult for land-owning families to sell their property, but it is nonetheless thought to be an important step in securing the historical legacy of the Territory.
Although many other former slave owners' descendants are still well represented within the Territory, by the twenty-first century no Nottinghams appeared on the voter's roll or the telephone directory.