Black History Month: the absence of written documentation on black Chartist leader William Cuffay
William Cuffay (1788-1870) was the black leader of London Chartism in 1848. He was convicted for his alleged role in a Chartist rising in central London in August 1848 and sentenced to be transported. He remained active in Hobart, Tasmania until his death.
The letter below is from Martin Hoyles 2013 biography of Cuffay. Its clear that he was literate and able to express himself with clarity. However this is the only surviving example of Cuffay’s writing.
There are of course considerable accounts of his speeches and activities in the weekly Chartist Northern Star paper. There are also some records from his time in Australia, again primarily newspaper reports.
In the mid-1840s Cuffay was one of the auditors for the Chartist Land Company a substantial operation underlining that he was both literate and numerate.
The puzzle remains therefore of why there is no other example of his writing. It may be that as a black Chartist leader documents were not considered worth retaining particularly after he left London for Australia.
Equally it may be that documentation does exist but has remained undiscovered. In Black History Month these are important questions
At the end of his stay in Wakefield, Cuffay wrote a letter to his friend and fellow Chartist leader Philip McGrath. This seems to be the only record of Cuffay’s actual writing:
Dear Mac, I have the pleasure to inform you that government has remitted the remainder of our probation here: and withdrawn altogether the sending us to public works in England: we (through our good conduct and the strong recommendation of our governor) to almost immediately be sent to Australia, with fourteen or fifteen others from this prison, to Port Philip, on the southern coast, opposite Van Diemens Land.
I spent some hours yesterday with my brother martyrs: we are in excellent health and spirits; we are to go with tickets of leave, consequently, shall be comparatively free on landing. Under such circumstances, it will be very awkward to be entirely penniless; therefore, I am compelled to solicit my chartist friends to raise a few shillings for me, as I cannot bear the idea of being under an obligation to anybody else, not even my own sister.
Have the goodness to show this to Grassby as soon as you can. He will do all he can for me; we are to go from here in a week or ten days, direct to the ship – there is no time to be lost. If we start from the port of London, I shall endeavour to let you know, so that I may see some of my friends before we part for ever. Give my best respects to all friends, and believe me still the same.
William Cuffay
Wakefield Convict Prison
July 20th 1849.
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