BOOK: "Granville Sharp's Cases on Slavery" by Andrew Lyall (March, 2017)

Andrew Lyall, Granville Sharp's Cases on Slavery

all information here

The purpose of Granville Sharpe's Cases on Slavery is twofold: first, to publish previously unpublished legal materials principally in three important cases in the 18th century on the issue of slavery in England, and specifically the status of black people who were slaves in the American colonies or the West Indies and who were taken to England by their masters. The unpublished materials are mostly verbatim transcripts made by shorthand writers commissioned by Granville Sharp, one of the first Englishmen to take up the cause of the abolition of the slave trade and slavery itself. Other related unpublished material is also made available for the first time, including an opinion of an attorney general and some minor cases from the library of York Minster.

The second purpose, outlined in the Introduction, is to give a social and legal background to the cases and an analysis of the position in England of black servants/slaves brought to England and the legal effects of the cases, taking into account the new information provided by the transcripts. There was a conflict in legal authorities as to whether black servants remained slaves, or became free on arrival in England. 

Lord Mansfield, the chief justice of the court of King's Bench, was a central figure in all the cases and clearly struggled to come to terms with slavery. The material provides a basis for tracing the evolution of his thought on the subject. On the one hand, the huge profits from slave production in the West Indies flooded into England, slave owners had penetrated the leading institutions in England and the pro-slavery lobby was influential. On the other hand, English law had over time established rights and liberties which in the 18th century were seen by many as national characteristics. That tradition was bolstered by the ideas of the Enlightenment. 

By about the 1760s it had become clear that there was no property in the person, and by the 1770s that such servants could not be sent abroad without their consent, but whether they owed an obligation of perpetual service remained unresolved. - See more at: http://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/granville-sharps-cases-on-slavery-9781509911219/#sthash.AY2eqVh2.dpuf 

Dr Andrew Lyall is a retired member of staff in Law at University College Dublin

Table of contents

introduction 

Granville Sharp (1735–1813) 

The Manuscripts 

Jonathan Strong 

The King (Lewis) v Stapylton 

Somerset v Stuart 

Gregson v Gilbert (The Zong) 

Black Servants Brought to England 

Factual Background 

State of the Law 

The Case Law 

Blackstone 

The Royal Navy 

The Cases 

Jonathan Strong 

The King (Lewis) v Stapylton (1771) 

Somerset v Stewart 

Versions of the Judgment 

The Order 

Scope of the Judgment 

Attempts to Evade Somerset 

Habeas Corpus and Foreigners 

Slave Law in the Colonies 

Villeinage in England 

Gregson v Gilbert (The Zong) 

The “Absolute Necessity” 

Marine Insurance and Slave Trade Acts 

Navigation and the Longitude Problem 

Did it Really Happen? 

TRANSCRIPTIONS 

Jonathan Strong 

King (Lewis) v Stapylton 

Proceedings in the King's Bench 

Motions for Judgment 

Granville Sharp's Argument 

Granville Sharp's Remarks on the Case 

Somerset v Stuart 

First Hearing in the King's Bench 

Third Day, “Second Hearing” in the King's Bench 

Lord Mansfield's Judgment 

1. The Scots Magazine/Estwick version 

2. Granville Sharp MS of the Judgment 

3. Letter to the General Evening Post 

4. Lincoln's Inn, Hill MS version 

5. Lincoln's Inn, Ashhurst Paper Book 

6. Lofft's Report 

Sharp's Memoranda on Somerset v Stuart 

Gregson v Gilbert 

The Declaration in the King's Bench 

Proceedings on a Motion for a New Trial 

Letter from Granville Sharp to Admiralty 

An Account of the Murder of Slaves on the Zong 

Letter from Granville Sharp to Duke of Portland 

Bill in the Court of Exchequer 

James Kelsall's Answer 

Gregson's Answer 

Extract from Martin Dockray MS 

Minor Cases 

De Grey Opinion 

Cay v Crichton 

Hylas v Newton 

Sharp's Remarks on Hylas v Newton 

Legislation 

Habeas Corpus Act 1679 

Act of the Scottish Parliament, 1701 c 6 

Slave Trade Act, 1788 

Slave Trade Act, 1793 

Slave Trade Act, 1798 

Slave Trade Act, 1799 

Letters 

Letter from Blackstone to Sharp 

Letter from Dr Fothergill to Sharp 

Blackstone's Commentaries

- See more at: http://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/granville-sharps-cases-on-slavery-9781509911219/#sthash.AY2eqVh2.dpuf