Francis Barber – Britain’s first known Black schoolteacher honoured with London plaque

The first known Black schoolteacher in British history has been commemorated with a plaque at the City of London house where he lived as a servant, friend and eventual heir to Dr Samuel Johnson.Francis Barber was born around 1742 on the Orange River sugar plantation in Jamaica. Enslaved from birth and given the name Quashey, he was brought to England at about the age of eight after the plantation was sold. Here, he was baptised and renamed Francis Barber.
Barber eventually joined the household o