Charles Stewart

Charles Stewart was a Scottish-born American merchant and customs officer who was the slaveowner in the Somersett Case, which effectively led to the outlawing of slavery in Britain in 1772. Early career Stewart was born in Scotland but emigrated to British America. He became a successful merchant in the port town of Norfolk, Virginia. He came to official notice during the Seven Years' War, when in 1762 a ship carrying Spanish prisoners of war ran aground near Norfolk. An angry mob set upon the Spaniards, killing two before Stewart intervened to save the lives of the rest. This impressed the authorities, who rewarded him with a post in the customs service. He had risen to be Paymaster General of the American Customs Board by the time he sailed for Britain in 1769. Somerset Case In 1749 Stewart had purchased James Somerset a young slave boy recent enslaved in West Africa and brought across the Atlantic Ocean. Somerset learned English very quickly. Stewart dressed Somerset in more expensive clothes than his other slaves and took him to important business meetings. Stewart took Somerset with him when he went to Britain to help support his sister Cecilia, whose husband had recently died, and her family.