Great Britain
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Granville Sharp
Durham, Great Britain
Archival Overview
Pioneering British abolitionist civil servant who financed and litigated the landmark 1772 Somerset v Stewart case ruling slavery illegal on English soil, co-founding the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
Biographical Record
Granville Sharp (1735–1813) was moved to action in 1765 after bandaging Jonathan Strong, an enslaved youth beaten and abandoned in the London streets by his master. Teaching himself constitutional law, Sharp brought successful test cases before the Court of King's Bench.
His tireless defense culminated in Lord Mansfield's historic 1772 ruling in Somerset v Stewart, establishing that chattel slavery was so odious that positive law must support it, liberating thousands of Black Britons. He later co-founded the Province of Freedom in Sierra Leone for freed loyalists.
Key Life Milestones
Triumph in Somerset v Stewart
Secured the landmark legal ruling declaring that slavery was unsupported by common law on English soil.
Chairman of the Abolition Society
Presided over the inaugural meeting of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialFulham (London), United Kingdom