Ralph and John Went to Church: Ralph Thoresby & John Lewis, the first recorded Black person in Leeds

On February 1 1708 a remarkable thing happened - Ralph and John went to church. Ralph was Ralph Thoresby, the Leeds antiquarian and diarist. John was John Lewis, a servant and the first recorded Black person in Leeds. How were the two linked? What brought John to Leeds? And what connections did Ralph have to the Caribbean? In this talk Danny Friar answers those questions and more when he tells the story of when Ralph and John went to church.

Part of the Leeds Libraries programme for Leeds400

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