JNF-The-Working-Class-Struggle-of-Half-a-Century

when the slaves were set free, and how “All the slaves from Cranstoun,
Dieppe Bay and all over traveled to town.” He mentioned that “massa”
gave them “dance”, plenty of food and a good time. Sendall outlived
his twelve children.
Another survivor of the first century was Eliza Bradshaw, formerly
Eliza Rouse, who lived at St. Paul’s Village in 1934. On being
interviewed, she said she was “in the time of count Bryan.” She lived
and worked at Willet’s Estate and later moved to Belmont. Her age
was given as nine years at the time of Emancipation. She lived to see
her fifth generation.
A Bit of Background
Candidly and with deep feelings, Mr. Clement Malone (later Sir Clement)
delivered a moving address at commemorative service held at the
Basseterre Moravian church to mark the centenary of Emancipation. In
the course of his speech he gave the mammoth gathering a few glimpses
of the background of the anniversary. He said, In 1729 Lord Talbot,
then Attorney General of England , gave it as his considered opinion
“that a slave coming from the West Indies to Great Britain did not become
free.” But in 1765 a serious campaign against slavery was initiated
by Granville Sharpe and in 1772 came the decision in what is
know in constitutional law as the Somerset case. The case decided that
slaves setting foot in England cannot be sent out of the country by any
process of law to be there executed . The facts of that case were these:-
what is now the State of Virginia was at that time a British colony, and
a gentleman from Virginia brought one of his slaves across to England.
That slave left his master when he reached England. The master seized
him on board the ship for a purpose of sending him abroad to be sold as
a slave . Through the influence of Granville Sharpe and others, a writ of
habeas corpus was issued and the question came before Lord Mansfield
to decide if the slave could lawfully and seized and sent abroad.
Lord Mansfield who was Lord Chief Justice of England, put the
case off for two or three terms, trying to effect a settlement. He could
not act rashly, it was an important decision that he was called upon to
make. Seeing that no compromise could be effected, Lord Mansfield -
be it said to his lasting credit - gave as his decision that the state of
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