A regional edition of this influential text, considered to be the first in what would become a long Anglophone tradition of autobiographies written or dictated by those who had experienced slavery, an instrumental tool in the campaign for abolition. It is also the earliest autobiography of a Black person to be published in the United Kingdom.
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (c.1705-1775) was captured and enslaved in Africa, transported to the Bahamas, and thereafter sold to a man in New Jersey. He experienced a spiritual awakening after reading John Bunyan, and was bequeathed his freedom upon the death of his master. Having met Calvanist evangelist George Whitefield in America, he decided to follow his religious calling to England, where he assumed the name James Albert. He paid his passage as a cook aboard a privateer, and enlisted for a time in the 28th regiment of foot. From England, he travelled briefly to The Netherlands, and upon his return, he married an English widow named Betty. They struggled financially, and the early editions of this narrative would likely have served as a means to support their growing family.
Compared to later formerly enslaved British writers like Ignatius Sancho or Ouladah Equiano, Gronniosaw is not overtly critical of slavery. His narrative, which was transcribed by an unknown woman (often cited as Hannah More), is far more focussed on his religious awakening and conversion to Christianity.
First published in Bath 1772, Gronniosaw’s Narrative … went through at least 12 editions before the end of century. The preface is by Walter Shirley, cousin of Selina Hastings, Countess Huntington, to whom the book is dedicated. She was also the dedicatee of the poems of Phillis Wheatley.
