

It has received funding from a NULab Seedling Grant and a CSSH Multigenerational Grant. Aljoe and Associate Professor Olly Ayers. The 'Ignatius Sancho's London' project began in January 2022 under the leadership of Professor Nicole N. The maps reveal a world connected to other transformative events shaping the life of the nation and the rest of the globe - from slavery and abolition to the rise of industry and empire - giving us all new insights from a Black perspective into what it meant to be British in the late eighteenth century.

But his life and letters show how Black people and voices travelled throughout the country, permeating society at every layer. It is a close-knit place, with Sancho observing events from his shop in the heart of Westminster and occupying a prominent role on London’s streets and social scene. The interactive maps below reveal Sancho’s world as never before. These experiences are narrated in The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (1782), an amazing collection that reveals a man who was at once a husband, father, entrepreneur, musician, abolitionist, literary writer - and the first documented Black person to vote in a parliamentary election. Born enslaved, Sancho came to occupy a unique position in London society that straddled the elite social worlds of the aristocracy and the everyday life of the city. This project showcases evidence about the life and times of Ignatius Sancho, one of the eighteenth century’s most important Black Britons. Paterson Joseph, actor and author of the acclaimed novel The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho (Dialogue, 2022) "An important archival treasure trove for the amateur and a vital resource for the expert"
