Olaudah (Equiano) Vassa (abt. 1745 - 1797)

Born about 1745 in Igboland [uncertain]

Husband of Susannah (Cullen) Vassa — married 7 Apr 1792 in St Andrew's Church, Soham, Cambridgeshire, England

Died 31 Mar 1797 at about age 52 in Paddington Street, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Gustavus (Equiano) Vassa is Notable.

Gustavus (Equiano) Vassa has African ancestry.

Olaudah Equiano a.k.a. Gustavus Vassa

From the Eboe region of the Kingdom of Benin. He reports he was the youngest of 7 surviving children. ^[1]

He was enslaved as a child, taken to the Caribbean and sold as a slave to a Royal Navy officer. He was sold twice more but purchased his freedom in 1766.

In Virginia, Equiano was bought by Michael Henry Pascal, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Pascal renamed the boy "Gustavus Vassa", after the Swedish noble who was elected King of Sweden in 1523 after the Swedish War of Liberation.[9] Equiano had already been renamed twice: he was called Michael while onboard the slave ship that brought him to the Americas; and Jacob, by his first owner. This time, Equiano refused and told his new owner that he would prefer to be called Jacob. His refusal, he says, "gained me many a cuff" and eventually he submitted to the new name.:62 He used this name for the rest of his life, including on all official records; he only used Equiano in his autobiography.[5]

Gustavus Vassa married Susannah Cullen 7 Apr 1792 in St Andrew's Church in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England by license. Witnesses to the marriage were Thomas Cullen, who was likely Susannah's brother, and Francis Bland. Gustavas was recorded as a bachelor of St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex. ^[2] A plaque was erected on the church wall in Soham to honor Equiano's time there. ^[3]

Olaudah Equiano's remains have not been located; however, recent discoveries (2019) have been made regarding likely burial location--the cemetery adjacent to the old Whitefield's Tabernacle on Tottenham Court Road. His name and date “6 [April 1797] Gustus Vasa, 52 years, St Mary Le bone" were listed in the church's burial records, located in the National Archives. ^[4]

"Will of Gustavus Vassa or Olaudah Equiano, Gentleman of Addle Street Aldermanbury, City of London" records the final wishes of Equiano, providing inheritance to his two daughters upon reaching the age of 21; his friend, John Audley, Esq acts as guardian. His daughter Anna Maria Vassa died just after Olaudah, and Joanna Vassa Bromley remained his sole heir. ^[5]

Dr Vincent Carretta, uncovered two tiny details in the archives that might suggest that Equiano was not born in Africa, but was instead born into slavery in Britain’s North American colonies. When as a child in 1759 Equiano had been brought to England by Michael Pascal he was baptised at Saint Margaret’s Church, Westminster, and in the records of that ceremony he was described as “Gustavus Vassa, a Black [man] born in Carolina 12 years old”. ^[6]. However, critically, that information was not provided by Equiano himself. Over a decade later in 1773, Equiano – by then a freeman resident in London – signed on as a crewman in a famous expedition to the Arctic. In the documents of the expedition he is described as having been born in South Carolina. Although again, there are doubts about the veracity of that evidence.^[7].

Sources

1. ↑ Title: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African Author: Olaudah Equiano Release Date: March 17, 2005 [EBook #15399] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm
2. ↑ https://www.chfhs.org.uk/search-the-database?action=view&id=901804
3. ↑ Findagrave Memorial Plaque of Olaudah Equiano
4. ↑ Camden Journal
5. ↑ https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D327248
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1934 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022 The Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter in Westminster; London, England; Registers and Books of St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster; Reference: MA/01/01/011 Ancestry Sharing Link
7. ↑ David Olusoga in BBC History Magazine Nov 2021

• James Walvin, ‘Equiano, Olaudah (c.1745–1797)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 accessed 16 Oct 2017
• Wikipedia: Olaudah Equiano
• Wikipedia: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
• "In memory of the Writer and Abolitionist Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano) 'The African' and his wife, Susanna Cullen who were married on 7th April 1792" Plaque in St Andrew, Soham.

See also:

• This WikiTree profile is referenced from Wikidata: Item Q379887, en:Wikipedia