Author’s Notes

I hope you enjoyed Wycliff’s and Ruth’s story. This was intense for me to write, and I felt Ruth’s hurt and fire throughout the crafting of it. It is my hope not to shock or glorify the bad but to show hope in dire situations. I’ve taken great care with the themes of passing and a woman’s need to be heard and believed.

Every woman may not be afforded legal justice, but she needs to be empowered to tell her truth and to be valued for her journey. I hope Ruth’s brings comfort and encouragement. No matter the testing in your life, know that you are gold, too. (Job 23:10)

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Mulattoes and Blackamoors During the Regency

Mulattoes and Blackamoors numbered between 10,000-20,000 in London and throughout England during the time of Jane Austen. Wealthy British with children born to native West Indies women brought them to London for schooling. Jane Austen, in her novel Sanditon, writes of Miss Lambe, a mulatto, the wealthiest woman. Her wealth made her desirable to the ton.

Mulatto and Blackamoor children were often told to pass to achieve elevated positions within Society. Letters of Dorothea Thomas, one of the wealthiest mulatto women from the island of Demerara, guided me, offering in detail her desire for her children to pass to further their education and careers.

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Regency Attitudes on Ravishment

Ravishment (rape) was a punishable crime if a person was convicted. However, convictions were rare. Evidence, such as respectable eyewitnesses, was needed as proof of the crime. Women, because of the shame they endured by the violation, the shame they believed was brought to their families, and the expense of paying for prosecution, often did not seek justice. The conviction of William Hodgson in 1811 was one of the first of its kind because the judge did not allow the defense to ask about the victim’s previous acts of sexuality or her work history. Harriet Halliday’s clear evidence came from multiple witnesses who’d heard her scream. A local surgeon who rescued Halliday financed the prosecution.

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Debtors’ Prison

Debtors’ prison was a form of punishment for men and women who could not pay their debts. Owing as little as £100 could have one thrown into one of the London prisons: Fleet (closed 1842), Faringdon (closed 1846), King’s Bench (closed 1880), Whitecross Street (closed 1870), and Marshalsea (closed 1842). Insolvent debtors could be imprisoned indefinitely until all debts were paid.

Debtors’ families were expected to pay to get them released, but Wycliff being the only solvent relation was not going to pay. Marshalsea was the worst of the debtors’ prisons with the foulest conditions.

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Fournier Street

Fournier Street is part of Spitalfields, London, developed by the French Huguenot immigrants dating from around 1720. The townhouses here were large but fell into disrepair and out of favor. I imagine by the 1800s, they could have been accessible to lease or purchase by parts of the Blackamoor and mulatto communities of London, which had grown in wealth but could not purchase in areas like Cheapside or Mayfair.

For more notes and historical information, visit VanessaRiley.com.