Reasonable Blackman
16th-century London silk weaver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reasonable Blackman (fl. 1579–1592)[1][2] (also possibly known as John Reason, Reasonable Blakemore and Reasonable Blackmore)[3] was a silk weaver resident in Southwark, London, in the late 16th century.[4][5][6] He was among the earliest people of African heritage to be living and working as an independent business owner in London in that era.[7]: 121 He may have come to London via the Netherlands,[4] which had a relatively significant African population at the time from Spanish and Portuguese colonies[7]: 120 and also a significant trade in silk.[5]
The first record of Blackman is dated to 1579 in the records of St Saviour's church (later Southwark Cathedral), for a reservation for the Easter Sunday service.[6] By 1587 Blackman was married and therefore clearly had sufficient means to support a family.[5] It has been suggested that he made costumes for the theatres in the area.[2][3] He had at least three children,[4][5][6] of whom at least one (Edward)[5] was baptised at St Olave's Church, Southwark in February 1587,[3] and a fourth child with a similar surname (John Blakemore) who was also baptised at St Olave's on 26 October 1579 may also have been his.[7]: 123 Two of his children, Edmund and Jane, died of bubonic plague in 1592.[3][4][5][6] They were buried with due ritual in St Olave's churchyard.[6][7]: 132
