Book of Negroes

The Book of Negroes (or Inspection Roll of Negroes) is a list of 3,000 black refugees whose details were recorded as part of the evacuation of British loyalists from the port of New York between April 23 and November 30, 1783, following the British surrender in the American Revolution. Fugitive slaves who were behind British lines at the time of surrender were not returned to their former owners unless they wish to be returned, and almost all were evacuated to Nova Scotia, Canada, a British territory.

The book lists the names of ships the evacuees were transported on, their commanding officers, and the ports to which they are headed; names, ages, and brief descriptions of the evacuees; names of claimants and places of residence; who the evacuee was currently in the possession of; and remarks on their former owners and places of residence, and when they left. The book also records if the evacuee is in possession of a certificate granting them freedom, issued in the name of General Birch (G.B.C.), or General Musgrave (G.M.C.).

There are two copies of the roll, one made by the British (now at the National Archives in Kew, England), and a copy made by the Americans (now at the National Archives of the untied States in Washington, D.C.).

At least 14 former slaves listed came from Williamsburg, Virginia. One, listed as James Rea (or Ray), age 24, an "Ordinary fellow without legs," is noted as being "Formerly Slave to George With Williamsburg Virginia... left him in 1779":

James is recorded as having sailed on the Elijah under the command of Alexander Buchannon on October 31, 1783, bound for Port Mattoon (Port Mouton), Nova Scotia.

External links

• Cassandra Pybus, Kit Candlin, and Robin Petterd, Black Loyalist, University of Sydney.
• "African Nova Scotians in the Age of Slavery and Abolition," Nova Scotia Archives.
• Taylor Stoermer, "Stout Fellows and Fine Girls: Williamsburg, Virginia, and the Book of Negroes," History Doctor.