- Francis Williams
Francis Williams (1702-1770) was a scholar and
poet born in Kingston,Jamaica . He is notable as the first known person of African descent to be educated atCambridge University .His parents were 'free blacks' John and Dorothy Williams and he was their youngest son.
He was sent by the Duke of Montagu to England, where he attended grammar school and then Cambridge, where he studied Latin, Literature and Mathematics, graduating with a bachelor's degree.
Example of his poetry:
"An Ode to George Haldane" Rash councils now, with each malignant plan, Each faction, in that evil hour began, At your approach are in confusion fled, Nor while you rule, shall raise their dastard head. Alike the master and the slave shall see Their neck reliv'd, the yoke unbound by thee.
External links
* [http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/Williams_Francis1700-70.html Mathematicians of the African Diaspora] , State University of New York at Buffalo.
* cite web |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum
url= http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/hiddenhistories/francisblackwriter/index.html
title= Francis Williams - A Portrait of An Early Black Writer
work=History, Periods & Styles
accessdate= 2008-06-11
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