Thomas Highflyer
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He was one of 152 Africans found on an Arabian ship off the coast of Zanzibar on August 24, 1866 by HMS Highflyer.[1][2] He and several other boys were put to work on HMS Highflyer, with Thomas working as a valet before disembarking in Brighton in 1868.[1] He was named Thomas Malcolm Sabine Highflyer after ship captain Thomas Malcolm Sabine Paisley.[1][2]
Life in Brighton
He lived in a lodging house in Great College Street, Kemp Town, with Henry and Eliza Thompson, who wanted him to be educated.[1][2] He attended St. Mark's School in Whitehawk, where the headmaster encouraged other pupils to welcome him.[1][2] He attended All Souls Church, near Kemp Town, which was the first church built by Reverend Henry Wagner.[1] Thomas's life story was told in a contemporary book dedicated to teaching young people about Christianity and how the word of God was spread across the globe to such lands and Africa and India.[4]
Death
In 1870, he died from tuberculosis and dropsy, aged only 12.[1]