George Africanus

THIS SCULPTURE BY CARLO SOMMA INPIRED IN THE AFRICAM NEGRO SLAVE GEORGE

George John Scipio Africanus (1763—1834) was a West African negro slave who became a successful entrepreneur in Nottingham

The early life of George Africanus is obscure. Calculating his birth year from his burial certificate, he was probably born in 1763. His obituary in the Nottingham Review of 30 May 1834, states that he was born in a village in Sierra Leone, which became a British colony in 1787.

It is believed that George arrived in England in early 1766. On 31 March 1766, he was baptized George John Scipio Africanus, and described as a negro boy belonging to Benjamin Molineux of Molineux House, in the Collegiate church of St Peter in Wolverhampton.

Benjamin Molineux began educating George at age three. After his death in 1772, his eldest son, also named George, inherited the estate. George Molineux took responsibility for raising and educating the child. Growing up, George Africanus probably worked as a servant in the George Molineux family household, before becoming apprenticed to be a Brass founder.

As an adult, George Africanus moved to Nottingham, a place familiar to his adopted family. Benjamin Molineux's grandfather was Darcy Molineux (1652-1716), served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1687, and Deputy Lieutenant of Nott's between 1698-1702. Darcy Molineux raised George Molineux's father, John (1685-1754), in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, before settling in Wolverhampton around 1700. The Nott's family Molineux came from Teversal near Mansfield.

George Africanus may have become interested in Nottingham after visiting on the way home from the funeral. A relative in his adopted family, Sir William Molineux, 6th Baronet of Teversall, died near Manfield in 1781. Members of the Wolverhampton Molineux family, including George Africanus, might have passed through Nottingham town center, a city of 18,000 people then, full of beautiful open-air gardens and pleasing surroundings.

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