George John Scipio Africanus (c. 1763 19 May 1834) George John Scipio Africanus is remembered as one of Britain s earliest known Black entrepreneurs and a striking example of resilience in the face of enslavement and discrimination. Born around 1763 in Sierra Leone, he was taken to England as a young child and became bound to the wealthy Wolverhampton iron merchant family, the Molineuxs. The Molineux family traded iron, sugar, and rum, with commercial links to both Africa and the West Indies.
George lived in the servants quarters at Molineux House, a grand Georgian residence that still stands in Wolverhampton today. On 31 March 1766, at around three years of age, he was baptised at St Peter s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton, recorded in the register as George John Scipio Africanus, a negro boy of Benjamin Molineux s. This entry is one of the earliest surviving records of his presence in England. As he grew up in Wolverhampton, George received some education and training. Accounts vary, but some suggest that in 1770 he was apprenticed in hairdressing, while other records indicate he was trained in brass founding a trade more consistent with his later working life. After the death of Benjamin Molineux in 1772, responsibility for George passed to Benjamin s son, George Molineux. It was during these years in Wolverhampton that George began to learn skills that would later help him achieve independence.
By the 1780s, George had left Wolverhampton and made his way to Nottingham, where he began building a new life as a free man. In 1788 he married Esther Shaw, an English woman, at St Peter s Church in Nottingham. The couple had seven children, though only their daughter Hannah survived into adulthood. George established himself first through various jobs but went on to launch an employment agency known as Africanus Register of Servants. From their home on Chandlers Lane, Nottingham, the Africanus family managed a successful business, while also investing in property. George eventually purchased his home and adjoining buildings, marking a rare achievement for a man of African origin in 18th-century England. George Africanus gained the rights of a freeholder, which entitled him to vote in elections.
He was literate and is believed to have voted for the Whigs in Nottingham. His property ownership and civic involvement gave him a degree of respect and standing within the community. He lived with his family in Nottingham until his death on 19 May 1834, after which he was buried in the churchyard of St Mary s Church. His grave, rediscovered in the 20th century, has since been marked with a commemorative plaque. Today, George Africanus is honoured in both Wolverhampton and Nottingham. In Wolverhampton, his story remains tied to the Molineux House and St Peter s Collegiate Church, where his baptism was recorded. In Nottingham, his former home on Chandlers Lane is marked with a blue plaque, and he is remembered as the city s first Black entrepreneur. His life reflects both the harsh realities of enslavement and the remarkable achievements of someone who carved out independence, dignity, and legacy in Georgian and early Victorian Britain.
