Francis Williams

Francis Williams (1702–1770) was a scholar and poet born in Kingston, Jamaica.

Francis Williams was born around 1700 to John and Dorothy Williams, a free black couple in Jamaica. John Williams had been freed by the will of his former master and within ten years was able to acquire property. As free blacks the Williams family were increasingly in the minority as Jamaica's sugar industry, which relied on the labour of enslaved Africans, grew over the course of the 18th century. Even less common were educated black people. However, John Williams' independent wealth ensured that Francis and his brothers received an education. ( Wikipedia ).

• Mathematicians of the African Diaspora - Francis Williams
• Francis Williams - a portrait of an early black writer
• 100 Great Black Britons
• Jamaica's Pioneer Teachers - Francis Williams http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/francis-williams-a-portrait... some discrepancy on Francis date of death found other as 1762. other Pages of interest to this story below http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Montagu,_2nd_Duke_of_Montagu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_Sancho