Treatment of Black individuals with convictions in Britain during the early 19th century

This article demonstrates the power of local communities and specific individuals who sought pardons for black individuals, whilst highlighting the porousness of prisons as an environment. It will consider an account dated to 1817, which occurred in Somerset; concerning an African American man named William Caines, a former sailor with a ‘stumped arm’, who was accused of committing highway robbery. Caines was initially sentenced to death but was imprisoned instead. He is listed in the Ilchester Goal sick register for 1811 to 1821, and the document mentions that Caines suffered from constipated bowels whilst he was incarcerated, which suggests that the prison staff offered care for his physical condition. This article provides assessment of the prison’s response to a former sailor described as an ‘African Black’ named John Lewis. Lewis was imprisoned after committing the offense of ‘housebreaking’ and sentenced in 1830. His enduring relationship with J.M Colson, a visiting magistrate based at Dorchester, resulted in a reduced sentence due to his exemplary conduct, alongside the offer of a job to work under the Staffordshire County Goal Governor, Thomas Brutton. The primary source material highlights that Colson was consistently updated on Lewis’ condition by staff. This article seeks to highlight black presence within prisons in nineteenth century England, but also to contextualize the unique treatment that these two men received during their incarceration period.