ABSTRACT
James Somerset was born in West Africa around 1741. When he was eight years old, he was bought by European slave traders and sold in Virginia to Charles Stewart, a Scottish merchant. Stewart (and Somerset as part of his household) travelled among the northern American colonies, moving to Boston in 1764 and relocating to London in 1768. On 1 October 1771 Somerset left his master’s house and refused to return. After two months, he was captured by slave hunters and, on Stewart’s orders, delivered to the custody of one John Knowles, captain of the ship Ann and Mary where he was confined in irons and bound for sale in Jamaica. Abolitionists working on Somerset’s behalf publicized his situation and applied to Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, Lord Mansfield, for a writ of habeas corpus. Eventually his case attracted the attention of the prominent abolitionist Granville Sharp. 1
