This month it seems especially important to remember two African men with a particular connection to Westminster and St Margaret's Church in particular.
Olaudah Equiano (1745-97) was an ex-slave and prominent member of the abolitionist movement in London. He campaigned for an end to slavery and published a memoir of his experiences in 1789. Equiano was baptised under his slave name Gustavus Vassa in St Margaret's Church. Next time you go there for a service, look for the plaque commemorating his baptism.
Ignatius Sancho (c.1729-80) was famously the first person of African heritage to vote in a British election and have an obituary published in the papers. Born on a slave ship, he was a man of letters, a composer and an abolitionist. Sancho married his wife Anne Osborne, a black woman from the Caribbean, in St Margaret's Church Westminster and all of his children were baptised there. According to Westminster Abbey he was buried in St Margaret's churchyard, but his grave is now lost. He is also said to be buried in what is now Christchurch Gardens on Victoria Street.
