October is Black History Month, so every day during October I will be posting up an introduction to an historical person of colour with a place in the history of the United Kingdom.

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write and encouraged her poetry.

By the age of twelve, Phillis was reading Greek and Latin classics in their original languages, as well as difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of fourteen, she wrote her first poem, and the Wheatley family supported Phillis’s education and promoted her poetry.

On a 1773 trip to London with her master’s son, seeking publication of her work, Phillis was helped to meet prominent people who became patrons. Her book of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published in 1773. It was printed in eleven editions, and praised by luminaries such as George Washington. Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, subsidised the publication of her poems, though they did not meet. The French writer and thinker Voltaire said in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry.

Phillis was set free by the Wheatleys shortly after the publication of her book. However, they both died shortly afterwards, and Phillis was cast into poverty. She met and married John Peters, a free black grocer. They struggled with poor living conditions and the deaths of two babies. Peters was imprisoned for debt in 1784. Phillis had a sickly child to care for, and went to work in a boarding house, where she died in obscurity as a scullery maid at the age of 31.

More about Phillis Wheatley at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillis_Wheatley