From Carolina to Kingswood: Boston King’s Story of Slavery, Salvation and Sedition in Eighteenth Century Bristol

Boston King was one of the first black men to be appointed into the Methodist connexion. His missions in Sierra Leone attracted the attention of the Superintendent Thomas Coke, who was interested in the ‘salvation’ of enslaved people. Coke took King to Kingswood School in 1794.  Here, King studied the Bible and developed his literacy, to further his ambitions of preaching in West Africa. Ryan Hanley explores King’s journey to Kingswood and provides an insight into his life in the school.

The Bristol General Election of 1830

The General Election which followed the death of King George IV in June 1830 is generally remembered in Bristol as a contest between the two Whig candidates over slavery. There were, however, two other candidates. One of them scored the greatest political triumph of his career; the other mustered barely two dozen votes. John Stevens tells the story of these Bristol electorates and their political campaigns.