ABSTRACT
From the sixteenth century onwards black people have been inextricably woven into the structure of British society, both as free and slave. Little attention has been accorded to this minority and it is only in the last 20 years that historical neglect has been partly redressed. New departures in the historiography have resulted in the dispelling of the myth surrounding the Mansfield Judgment, new surveys have been given by Walvin, Fryer and Ramdin, and new dimensions have been added, including research by Duffield into black transportees. This study has aimed to continue the trend of rediscovering the black British past by concentrating on black people during the period 1780 to 1830. On occasions this chronological boundary has been loosely interpreted in order further to develop themes and debates.
