In 1661 Barbados introduced the first “Slave Code”, officially named “An Act for Better Ordering and Governing of Negroes”. The Code defined people of African origin on the island as chattels – they were the property of slaveholders, to do with as they wanted. The Code gave the holders of enslaved people the right to punish, torture and kill them. Other British colonies in the Caribbean and mainland Americas introduced similar Slave Codes.

The legal status of people enslaved in the British colonies was not clear if they were brought to Britain by their slaveholders. It was a generally held belief that “the air of England was too pure for slaves”; the condition of slavery was contrary to everything that Britain stood for. In 1729 a group of plantation owners asked Sir Philip Yorke, the Attorney General, and Charles Talbot, Solicitor General, to clarify this legal position.

Yorke and Talbot wrote the opinion as can be seen here in the document and transcript. They did not offer any further justification or quote any other sources.

The Yorke-Talbot opinion stated that enslaved people who came to this country were not automatically freed. Enslaved people who were baptised did not become free. It was also a generally held belief that Christians could not be slaves. They also stated that if an enslaved person was brought to this country they could be sent back to the plantations against their will.

James Somerset (sometimes Somersett) was an enslaved African-American man from Virginia. His slaveholder, Charles Stewart, transported him from Boston, Massachusetts to England in 1769.

While in England, Somerset was baptised on 12 February 1771 (a copy of the parish register can be seen by searching London Metropolitan Archives’ “Switching the Lens” database – see link below). Towards the end of 1771, Somerset ran away from Charles Stewart, but was soon recaptured. Steward then arranged for Somerset to be shipped to Jamaica where he would become a plantation worker.

Somerset’s friends (and god-parents) applied for him to be released from the ship and brought before a court (using a writ of Habeas Corpus). Somerset approached Granville Sharp about helping argue his case in January 1772.

Since 1765 Granville Sharp had been working with run-away enslaved people in London. He taught himself law (he was not a trained lawyer) so that he could argue for the release of people in this country. The Yorke-Talbot Opinion was used by his opponents to prove that Africans continued to be the property of their slaveholders in this country.   

James Somerset’s case tested out the legal arguments that Granville Sharp had been developing, including those against the Yorke-Talbot Opinion. After months of debate, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Mansfield, concluded that James Somerset could not be transported forcibly to the Caribbean and should be freed. Mansfield’s ruling is seen as pivotal in the history of enslavement in Britain and its colonies. However, he did not state that slavery was illegal in this country.

This phrase appears on the top left of the document. In legal terms it means a case dealing with an abstract question or a judgement on a right before that right has been applied in practice.

N^r Moot Case 100 – In order to rectify a Mistake that Slaves become

ffree by their being in England or Ireland or being Baptised, it hath

been tho^t proper to consult the Kings Att^y & Soll^t Gen & whose opin’s

were as follows

                We are of Opinion that a Slave coming from the West Indies

To GB or Ireland, with or without his Master, doth not become free;

And that his Ma^rs property or Right in him is not thereby determined

or varied; And that Baptism doth not bestow ffreedom upon him,

or make any Alteration in his Temporal Condⁿ in these Kingdoms

We are also of Opin that his Ma^r may legally compel him to return

agⁿ to y^eplantations.

                                                                                                Yorke

                                                                                                Talbot

Number Moot Case 100 – In order to rectify a mistake that slaves become

free by their being in England or Ireland or being baptised, it hath [has]

been thought proper to consult the King’s Attorney and Solicitor General and whose opinions

 were as follows:

We are of opinion that a slave, coming from the West Indies

to Great Britain or Ireland, with or without his master, doth [does] not become free;

And that his master’s property or right in him is not thereby determined

or varied; And that baptism doth [does] not bestow freedom upon him,

or make any alternation in his temporal condition in these Kingdoms

We are also of opinion that his master may legally compel him to return

again to the plantations.

                                                                                                Yorke

                                                                                                Talbot