Output details

Caethwas Ffoedig yng Nghaerdydd: Hanes William A. Hall a diddymiaeth Gymreig 1861-65' [A Fugitive Slave in Cardiff: The narrative of William A. Hall and Welsh anti-slavery sentiments 1861-65]

The research for this output was divided equally between the two authors, with each contributing around fifty percent of the text. Wyatt researched the text within the context of the slave narrative genre and explored the contents of William Hall's narrative relating to Tennessee; for example, through census returns. Jones employed his significant expertise of the Welsh Diaspora to examine the provenance of the text within Cardiff and to place it within the context of Welsh non-conformist anti-slavery campaigns and Welsh-American connections during the 1860s.

The chapter analyses the account of an escaped slave from Tennessee who resided in Cardiff in the 1860s. The chapter examines William’s text in two contexts. First, it locates it within the genre of the fugitive slave narrative, which became increasingly popular amongst anti-slavery audiences in Wales in the early nineteenth century. Second, it addresses the ways in which William’s text provides significant insights into the mechanics of the anti-slavery lobby in Wales to explore the hitherto neglected dynamics of support for anti-slavery campaigns and Wesleyan Methodist activity in Cardiff.