John Clarkson's Account Of The Story Of Lydia Jackson

John Clarkson's Account Of The Story Of Lydia Jackson

This handwritten account retells the tragic story of Lydia Jackson, a Black Loyalist woman who, like her compatriots, was promised freedom upon her resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to be deceived by her employer, sold back into slavery to another man, and subjected to years of physical and emotional abuse, even during her pregnancy. According to the record, Jackson eventually escaped, first fleeing to Halifax before later making her way to Sierra Leone. Her story highlights a darker aspect of Black Loyalists’ hardships: how their “freedom” was only conditional and frequently violated. Legal protections for these folks were weak and often completely ignored, allowing employers to subject them to working conditions similar to enslavement.

This account once again exposes the fact that, in addition to the lack of safety, stability, and justice free Black folks faced, they were also at risk of re-enslavement in Nova Scotia, showing how little the British crown truly cared for some of its subjects.

John Clarkson

Nova Scotia Archives. “John Clarkson’s Account of Lydia Jackson (1783–1791).” https://archives.novascotia.ca/africanns/archives/?ID=45.

Nova Scotia Archives

30 November 1791

Public Domain

Personal Record