A slave's grave
HERE LYETH THE BODY OF MYRILLA, NEGRO SLAVE TO MR THOS. BEAUCHAMP OF NEVIS BAPT. OCT YE 20TH. BURIED JAN YE 6TH 1705
Behind this simple inscription lies an intriguing mystery. Who was Myrtilla and how did she come to Oxhill? Any why did she merit a headstone?
Research in Nevis has confirmed that Thomas Beauchamp of Nevis was a sugar planter, but when or why he came to Oxhill is not known, although it is likely that he married Perletta, the daughter of the Rector of Oxhill, Nicholas Meese. The infant daughter of Thomas and Perletta Beauchamp was baptised in June, 1706 and buried 1710. Her memorial slab is in the chancel close to others of the Meese family. Thomas and Perletta had three more children, also baptised in Oxhill, Thomas, baptised March 8th, 1705, Robert, baptised September 11th, 1711, and Letitia, baptised October 1714.
The parish records note the baptism and burial of the negro slave, Myrtilla, “buried today a negro girl belonging to Mrs. Beauchamp” and also the baptism of one Will Archus “an adult male black” recorded for the year 1700, and in the registers for the parish of Idlicote, January 1st, 1690, the baptism by Nicholas Meese of a negro girl “belonging to ye Lady Underhill” (Margaret Lucy).
Recently, Barbara Willis Brown, director of Scawdi, an organisation which works with young men and families to widen opportunities for Birmingham's poor inner-city black community, carried out some research on this grave, which was published in the Guardian
"She must have meant a great deal to him," Barbara says. "In those days, when the ordinary populace was illiterate, a pauper's grave would have been the norm. Yet here was Myrtilla, buried right outside the church door for the whole world to see."
The grave also resonates with the communities Willis-Brown's works with.
"It serves to 'ground' you," she continues. "It helps you to belong, and everyone needs roots. It demonstrates to people that we have a share in English history too, that we can trace ancestry back a couple of centuries. Often, people can feel invisible, or even apologetic, with a sense of not belonging here. Our history project can help overturn that perception, and that is very powerful." Nearby Charlecote Park has a painting by Sir Geoffrey Kneller, from 1680 depicts the Lucy family with a black page boy, wearing a metal collar, one of the earliest depictions of a black presence in the West Midlands.
The baptism records of the three slaves in Oxhill and Myrtilla’s headstone may indicate that these individuals were valued and perhaps kindly treated by their owners. Speculation and research continue about the exact relationship of Myrtilla to the Beauchamp family.
