Black History

A Diverse England

The 18th and 19th centuries in England were more racially diverse than many audiences realise. The difference is how individuals from diverse communities were treated in the past, which means their stories are often forgotten or buried. 

We’re focusing on Black history from the times of the Brontës - but Black individuals had been making history in Britain well before this time period, and we hope this page encourages you to dig deeper.

Heathcliff

Heathcliff’s identity has been explored by scholars over the years. While we can never know exactly how Emily Brontë imagined Heathcliff, descriptions in the novel - and its historical context - open up a number of possibilities about Heathcliff’s racial identity.

There are many different theories about Heathcliff’s origins. One suggestion is that Heathcliff has Black African heritage, with interpretations linking him to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Black figures who might have inspired Emily.

It’s interesting to consider the possible connections between Black history and one of the most influential novels in English literature. Black history is British history.

‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë was published in 1847. The novel sets the scene in 1801, in the narrator Lockwood’s present, meaning the main events of the book all take place before this. Mr Earnshaw brings young Heathcliff to Wuthering Heights in 1771. The British slave trade had been operating for centuries by this time and wasn’t abolished until 1807.

In 1771, Liverpool was a major port for the transatlantic slave trade in Britain. By 1790, over a third of the city’s trade came from Africa and the Caribbean, and it controlled 80% of Britain’s trade in enslaved people. Black people have been living in Liverpool since at least the early 18th century. Burial records show an enslaved man named Abell was buried there in 1717. He’s believed to be the first recorded Black resident of Liverpool - before it even gained city status.

The fact that Heathcliff is found in Liverpool, described as an orphan with no ‘owner’ or ‘belonging’ to anybody, opens up the possibility that Heathcliff could have Black African descent, having been brought to Liverpool through the slave trade. Ellen’s mention ‘”and you were kidnapped by wicked sailors and brought to England”’ has been used to support this interpretation.

Mr Earnshaw’s choice to simply call him ‘Heathcliff’ is also reminiscent of the single name enslaved people were given. This act of violence removed an individual’s identity and forcibly made enslaved people forget their origins.

One of the possible inspirations for Heathcliff’s character is Frederick Douglass (1818-95). He was an enslaved Black man who, once free, became the most photographed American of the 19th century. Douglass was an influential abolitionist, who delivered lectures and was quoted in newspapers in Britain between 1845 and 1847, the time when Emily was writing ‘Wuthering Heights’.

In ‘Wuthering Heights’, Heathcliff is described as being, ‘hardened perhaps, to ill treatment: he would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear’.

This forced endurance of misery and beatings is an experience that can be compared to that of enslaved people across the colonies, as Douglass mentions in his speech. Heathcliff is ‘flogged’ like an enslaved person by Hindley and the entire family contributes to this prejudice.

Although the Transatlantic Slave Trade was abolished in 1807, enslavement in America existed throughout Emily Brontë’s life and was not abolished until 17 years after her death. Questions around enslavement and abolition were at the forefront of British politics. The Brontës would have read about this in newspapers - we know they subscribed to the Leeds Mercury, quoted previously.

It’s interesting that Emily chose to set ‘Wuthering Heights’ in a time when the Transatlantic Slave Trade was a large part of the economy in Britain.