Editing Scipio Africanus (slave) (section)

==Life==
Very little is known of Africanus' life. He was a former slave (since as the courts were to hold in [[Somersett's Case]] (1772), slavery did not exist in Great Britain under English common law) in the household of [[Charles Howard, 7th Earl of Suffolk|Charles William Howard, 7th Earl of Suffolk]], who lived in the "Great House" in [[Henbury, Bristol|Henbury]], [[Bristol]]. It is not clear how he came to the household; historians believe that he may have been born into the household as the son of an enslaved West African woman, and named by Howard.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|last=Macquiban|first=Tim|date=23 September 2004|title=Africanus, Scipio (c. 1702–1720), servant|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-56658|access-date=2020-06-19|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/56658|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> One biographer has suggested that Africanus' name implies that Howard intended to free him for loyal service because the Roman historian [[Polybius]] wrote about how the Roman general Africanus freed people he had enslaved who promised to work hard.<ref name=":0" />

Africanus died in the Great House aged eighteen.<ref name=":0" />