Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

I had a fine black of about 16 years of age, presented to me by Mr Drax who brought him over from Barbados. This black lived with me some years, and died about this time of an imposthume [abscess] in his head. Six weeks after he was buried I received an account that at London it was credibly reported there that I had caused him to be gelt, and that the operation had killed him. I laughed at it at the first, conscious it was a falsehood, and a ridiculous story, till being further informed that it came from the Duke of Norfolk and his family, with whom I had had some differences at law, and that he had waited upon the king to beg my estate, if it became a forfeiture by this felony. I thought it convenient to send for the coroner to view the body with a jury, before it was too far decayed, that a rottenness of the part might not be imputed to incision. The coroner accordingly summons a jury, and does his office; but when they came to uncover the breast, it was so putrified they would go no farther; so that upon the examination of eleven witnesses, some that laid him out, and some that saw him naked, several, because of his colour, having a curiosity to see him after he was dead, they gave their verdict, that he died by the hand of god. This, however, was not thought sufficient; for within a few days after, there came one Bright, a lawyer, one Chappell, an attorney, both concerned in the duke’s affairs, and one Buck, a surgeon of Sheffield, whom I had caused to be prosecuted not long before for having two wives, together with some others, with my Lord Chief Justice’s warrant, directed to the coroner to take up the body; which the coroner refused to obey, saying he had done his office already. These ambassadors, however, took up the body, and Buck, under pretence of viewing the part the better, would have taken it up with a penknife, but it was not suffered, lest by that instrument he should give the wound he sought for. But what was not only a mercy, but a miracle also, the part proved to be perfectly sound and entire, though the body had been so long under ground, and the rest of it was much putrified and decayed; so that shame of face and confusion came pretty plentifully upon the actors in this extraordinary scene.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Comment

Did the allegations circulate as a interracial cuckoldry joke – there’s probably a porn meme of this nature – with the servant presumed to be serving Mrs more than Mr?

Mr Drax must be Colonel Henry Drax, son of Colonel Sir James Drax (c. 1609 – c. 1662), a pioneer of the plantation system. Barbados was said in 2022 to be threatening to sue their descendant, the Tory MP Richard Drax, for reparations.

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Original

I had a fine black of about sixteen years of age, presented to me by a gentleman [Mr. Drax] who brought him over from Barbados. This black lived with me some years, and died about this time of an imposthume in his head. Six weeks after he was buried [margin note: October 20] I received an account that at London it was credibly reported there that I had caused him to be gelt, and that the operation had killed him. I laughed at it at the first, conscious it was a falsehood, and a ridiculous story, till being further informed that it came from the Duke of Norfolk and his family, with whom I had had some differences at law, and that he had waited upon the king to beg my estate, if it became a forfeiture by this felony.

I thought it convenient to send for the coroner to view the body with a jury, before it was too far decayed, that a rottenness of the part might not be imputed to incision. The coroner accordingly summons a jury, and does his office; but when they came to uncover the breast, it was so putrified they would go no farther; so that upon the examination of eleven witnesses, some that laid him out, and some that saw him naked, several, because of his colour, having a curiosity to see him after he was dead, they gave their verdict, that he dyed ex visitatione dei, by the hand of god.

This, however, was not thought sufficient; for within a few days after, there came one Bright, a lawyer, one Chappel, an attorney, (both concerned in the duke’s affairs,) and one Buck, a surgeon of Sheffield, whom I had caused to be prosecuted not long before for having two wives, together with some others, with my Lord Chief Justice’s warrant, directed to the coroner to take up the body; which the coroner refused to obey, saying he had done his office already. These ambassadors, however, took up the body, and Buck, under pretence of viewing the part the better, would have taken it up with a penknife, but it was not suffered, lest by that instrument he should give the wound he sought for. But what was not only a mercy, but a miracle also, the part proved to be perfectly sound and entire, though the body had been so long under ground, and the rest of it was much putrified and decayed; so that shame of face and confusion came pretty plentifully upon the actors in this extraordinary scene.

438 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Abscess (1) ·
• Barbados (2) ·
• Bigamy (2) ·
• Castration (2) ·
• Charles II (1630-85) (25), King of Scotland 1649-51, King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration until his death ·
• Cuckold (1) ·
• Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (1) ·
• Humour (26) ·
• Inquest (14) ·
• James Drax (1) ·
• London (74) ·
• Race and sexuality (1) ·
• Reresby, John (1634-89) (23), Thrybergh-born, politician and diarist, governor of York 1682-88, 2nd baronet ·
• Restoration comedy (1) ·
• Richard Drax (1) ·
• Richard Raynsford (1) ·
• 📌Sheffield (72) ·
• Slavery (20) ·
• 📌Thrybergh (6) ·

All tags.

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