Black History Month: 4 October 2020
Mary Fillis' life in England may challenge perceptions that racial slavery was an import from Tudor England into America and make us consider why that narrative came about. Born in 1577, Mary arrived in England in 1583 or 1584 with an English merchant when she was six or seven years old from Morocco. She became a servant to merchant John Barker and moved to the house of seamstress Millicent Porter in the 1590s.
Mary was baptised in June 1597, making her one of at least 60 Africans who were baptised in Tudor England, and her faith was encouraged by Millicent Porter. Her baptism was therefore not unusual, especially as she had been quite young when she arrived in England. Besides social acceptance, another reason she was baptised may have been so she could get married. Tudor England did not, in principle, believe that slavery was a necessary part of the country, and maintained that anyone who came from other parts of the world could be as free as their masters, which is why women like Mary were welcomed into the religious community. Historians know that Porter died in 1599 but do not know what became of Mary.
Want to find out more about Mary Fillis? Click here for more information about her and other black women in Early Modern England, or here for a video with more about her life.
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