Joseph Emidy was born in Guinea on the west coast of Africa in 1775. He was sold into slavery to Portuguese traders in 1787 and taken to Brazil where his owner arranged for him to be taught by Jesuit priests. In 1791 he was taken to Lisbon where his owner, impressed by Emidy's interest in music, provided him with a violin and engaged a teacher for him. Emidy proved so musically gifted that after three to four years training he gained a place among the 2nd violins of the Lisbon Opera. His life took a radical change, however, when Captain Sir Edward Pellew, master of the HMS Indefatigable, heard Emidy play at the opera whilst his ship was in port for repairs. Pellew wanted a 'fiddle' player for his crew aboard the Indefatigable and arranged for Emidy to be pressed into service on his ship, kidnapping him as he left the Opera house following a performance. Emidy remained on the Indefatigable, without shore leave, for four years until he was eventually discharged as a free man in 1799 at Falmouth.
Emidy earned a living providing music tuition and organising concerts and events in Cornwall. In September 1802, he married Jane (Jenefer) Hutchins, the daughter of a respected local tradesman, and the couple went on to have several children. Emidy worked throughout Cornwall but had close connections with Truro, organising musical events there, even before he moved there with his family in 1815. The only known portrait of Emidy is a sketch of 1808 showing 'A Musical Club', possibly made in the 'Concert Room' of Truro's Assembly Building and now in the Royal Cornwall Institute.
Joseph Emidy died on the 24th April 1835 and was buried in Kenwyn Church, Truro. His fifth son, Richard, is buried next to him. Awareness of Emidy's remarkable life and career is growing and a memorial stone to him was recently erected in front of the Lady Chapel at Falmouth Church.
This is part of the Volume: VF000602 Black History Month; within the Series: HEC01/143 Black History Month; within the Collection: HEC01 Historic England
© Historic England Archive
Photographer: Davies, James O: Historic England
Hanoverian Gravestone, Transatlantic Slave Trade, African And Caribbean Heritage
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