Salim C. Wilson: An African Evangelist in Hull and the East Riding
Salim C. Wilson was an African Prince who was enslaved by Arabs. Once emancipated, he converted to Christianity and eventually settled in Scunthorpe. His work as a preacher brought him to Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire on a number of occasion where he spoke to large congregations about religion, African practices and the abolition of contemporary slavery.
Early life: Hatashil Masha Kathish
Salim Charles Wilson was born Hatashil Masha Kathish around 1859 in Amerwai, Sudan and was the son of a Gok Dinka Chief.[1] When he was a small child his mother died of smallpox and shortly after his father was murdered by Arabs when they invaded his tribe. In Kathish’s autobiography he advised:
Salim Charles Wilson was born Hatashil Masha Kathish around 1859 in Amerwai, Sudan and was the son of a Gok Dinka Chief.[1] When he was a small child his mother died of smallpox and shortly after his father was murdered by Arabs when they invaded his tribe. In Kathish’s autobiography he advised:
We were at the door of the hut, my Father and I. He was seated on a log, and I was standing by him. Whatever might have been his thoughts, I was not dreaming of danger; but all in a moment the Arabs were on us. One of them had seized me before I could understand what had happened, while another of the gang had fastened on him. This wretch would have attacked the wrong man if it had not been for his fire-arms, for my Father, being stronger than he, threw his opponent, and would either have killed him or escaped. Indeed, when he rose to his feet, he seized his weapons and started to run; but seeing me as I struggled in the arms of my captor, he turned to either rescue me, or die in my defence. I saw him prepare to throw his spear, but the fellow that in another moment would have felt its point, discharged his revolver at him. He fell; and the knives of the party were instantly buried in his poor, dear body.[2]
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After the death of his father Kathish was enslaved and suffered extensively during his time in bondage. Fortunately, he was released from captivity by Lieutenant Colonel Romolo Gessi who was part of General Charles George Gordon’s troops fighting in North Africa. One of Gordon’s key aims was to stop slavery in the region as well as reform other practices that were deemed barbaric.
Freedom, however brought its own torment as when Kathish returned to his village it had been ransacked and his friends and family were all gone. As a result, he was asked to go to Britain with Reverend C. T. Wilson of the Church Missionary Society and medical missionary Dr Robert William Felkin. However, due to his previous experiences, Kathish faced his new life with uncertainty and trepidation. In his autobiography he advised, ‘But it was in fear and trembling that I followed my new Friends. “Would they eat me?” was a question that occasionally entered my thoughts; and “Would they beat me?” was another that I felt might be answered more easily.’[3] |
In England: Becoming Salim C. Wilson
Kathish arrived in England around 1880 and spent a couple of months in London before travelling to Paveham, near Bedford. He was then taken to Nottingham where he found God and converted to Christianity.[4] He was baptised and given the name Salim Charles Wilson (‘Salim; being the name he bore in his slave days and Charles Wilson; after his first English friend), on 28 August 1882 in the Holy Trinity Church in Nottingham where he was later confirmed.[5]
After his conversion, Wilson attended Hulme Cliff College, a high profile Missionary Training Institute in Derbyshire. The first time he gave a speech in English, he quoted passages from the bible with two friends from the Congo in Burton-on-Trent. Shortly after this he travelled with Reverend Wilson to Palestine before returning once again to Hulme Cliff College.
In 1884 he accompanied Wilson and the Superintendent of the college on their lecturing tour of the North of England.[6] It was during this time that he fell in love with the region. He advised that during the tour he, ‘appeared on a platform, in a leopard skin after the fashion of a Dinka Chief.’[7] After the tour ended he returned to Hulme Cliff College before returning to London via Birmingham in the summer of 1886. While in London, Wilson decided to host his own lectures.
Although he was given the opportunity to return to Africa this ended in disaster when Wilson and his companion Graham Wilmot Brooke quarrelled over a difference in religious views. He returned to England on 7 July 1888 and began to tour the country on his own. In 1893 he once again travelled to North Africa where he met a small community of Dinka men and women in Tripoli. Upon his return to England, he settled in Yorkshire, obtained his licence as a lay reader form the Bishop of Wakefield and offered his services to a number of churches and temperance societies to promote Christianity and abstinence from alcohol.
By 1905 his endeavours in Wakefield, Barnsley and Lincolnshire had earned him the title of ‘The Black Evangelist of the North.’[9] In 1911 he moved to Scunthorpe and in 1913, at the approximate age of 54, Wilson married a widow named Eliza Alice Holden at the Primitive Methodist Centenary Church. It was reported that the road leading to the church was packed with interested spectators some of whom were supportive of the marriage and others whom were not.
Kathish arrived in England around 1880 and spent a couple of months in London before travelling to Paveham, near Bedford. He was then taken to Nottingham where he found God and converted to Christianity.[4] He was baptised and given the name Salim Charles Wilson (‘Salim; being the name he bore in his slave days and Charles Wilson; after his first English friend), on 28 August 1882 in the Holy Trinity Church in Nottingham where he was later confirmed.[5]
After his conversion, Wilson attended Hulme Cliff College, a high profile Missionary Training Institute in Derbyshire. The first time he gave a speech in English, he quoted passages from the bible with two friends from the Congo in Burton-on-Trent. Shortly after this he travelled with Reverend Wilson to Palestine before returning once again to Hulme Cliff College.
In 1884 he accompanied Wilson and the Superintendent of the college on their lecturing tour of the North of England.[6] It was during this time that he fell in love with the region. He advised that during the tour he, ‘appeared on a platform, in a leopard skin after the fashion of a Dinka Chief.’[7] After the tour ended he returned to Hulme Cliff College before returning to London via Birmingham in the summer of 1886. While in London, Wilson decided to host his own lectures.
Although he was given the opportunity to return to Africa this ended in disaster when Wilson and his companion Graham Wilmot Brooke quarrelled over a difference in religious views. He returned to England on 7 July 1888 and began to tour the country on his own. In 1893 he once again travelled to North Africa where he met a small community of Dinka men and women in Tripoli. Upon his return to England, he settled in Yorkshire, obtained his licence as a lay reader form the Bishop of Wakefield and offered his services to a number of churches and temperance societies to promote Christianity and abstinence from alcohol.
By 1905 his endeavours in Wakefield, Barnsley and Lincolnshire had earned him the title of ‘The Black Evangelist of the North.’[9] In 1911 he moved to Scunthorpe and in 1913, at the approximate age of 54, Wilson married a widow named Eliza Alice Holden at the Primitive Methodist Centenary Church. It was reported that the road leading to the church was packed with interested spectators some of whom were supportive of the marriage and others whom were not.
Wilson in the East Riding of Yorkshire
Although Salim C. Wilson lived in various parts of Yorkshire, such as Barnsley, Wakefield and Scunthorpe during his life, he did not settle in the East Riding of Yorkshire. However, he visited several places in the region repeatedly. The first record of Wilson visiting the East Riding of Yorkshire was in the summer of 1901. Local newspapers advertised that several well-known missionaries, such as Wilson, were to attend an exhibition to advise what they were doing among their own countrymen to spread the word of God. His next visit was not until 1923, when he preached to an audience at Thornton Hall in Hull.[10] He most likely spoke about his childhood in Africa, his native people and also possibly quoted passages from the bible. |
‘African’s Fervent Plea to Hull People- SLAVERY MUST END’[11]
When he returned to the region five years later, Wilson had a more pressing agenda. In 1928 he arrived to gather support for the campaign against contemporary slavery. Although Britain had abolished slavery in the Empire in 1833, with many other countries including the United States of America following her lead, it was still widely practiced in many parts of the world. Between 1922 and 1928, Morocco, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran all abolished slavery. However, it was still prevalent in certain areas of Africa.
On 5 February 1928 Wilson visited three different locations within the East Riding area, these were Bourne Chapel in Driffield, Thornton Hall and later Garden Village Hall in Hull.[12] He spoke about those who were in bondage and advised what people in the area could do to help the campaign. In a report by the Hull Daily Mail, readers were advised, ‘Mr Wilson is interesting enough when he talks about the political and social conditions of Africa, but his purpose is not political, but religious, and his message to the people of England is to do their utmost to free the millions of slaves still in bondage in Africa, Arabia, India and China. “Slavery,” he says, is an insult to both God and man.’[13]
It is likely that Wilson was received warmly by the people of the region as in early March he returned to Thornton Hall and gave another public lecture.[14] It is probable that his talk began with a reminder of the ties between the city and the abolition of the slave trade through William Wilberforce. However, his talk highlighted that further work had to be done to ensure that slavery was completely abolished. In this lecture, he advised that ‘progress towards the complete emancipation of slaves throughout the world would be tediously slow unless the full weight of public opinion supported the League of Nations in its humanitarian work.’[15]
Wilson then moved on to other areas in the North, however he was back at Kings Hall on Fountain Road on 6 May 1928. It was reported by the Hull Daily Mail that, ‘His subjects on Sunday will be, in the afternoon, ‘My sale into Slavery,” and in the evening, “My encounter with General Gordon.” The advertisement went on to state that, ‘Negro spirituals will be sung by Mr S. S. Sanderson, the well-known Hull tenor, and the Rev N. F. Hutchcroft.’[16]
It is likely that during his lecture entitled, ‘My sale into Slavery,’ Wilson spoke about how once captured, the Dinka tribesmen were yoked by their necks, with their hands tied behind their backs and marched to an Arab camp.[17] It is possible that Wilson also detailed the relatively humane treatment of his first master and that he had been sold to his second master for ‘SIX YARDS OF CALICO’ which was a piece of cloth worth approximately 1s 3d (roughly £25 today) to pay a debt.[18] It is highly probable that Wilson capitalised upon his horrific experiences with his second master to demonstrate the despicable nature of slavery and thus rally support for the Anti-Slavery campaign. In his book he advised that ‘My new Master proved to be a creature who might fitly be called a Demon.’[19] Wilson’s second master violently beat him on a number of occasions, one case in particular which must have featured among his stories, was when he accidently got his captor’s ammunition wet during a hunting trip which resulted in him being severely beaten and left for dead. On being returned to his master days later, he was branded which was a common practice to mark out which slave belonged to a particular owner. Wilson’s cheek was sliced with a razor and the wound was rubbed with a mixture of gunpowder and salt to make a scar.[20]
On 9 May 1928 Wilson attended a meeting which was held at the City Hall to discuss and protest against contemporary slavery. At 7.30 p.m. the guests were seated and the speakers were gathered. The preachers included Bishop Welldon, Dean of Durham, the Lord Bishop of Hull, Lady Simon, and Mr J. H. Harris, supported by the Rev. W. Seldon Morgan, M. A., the Rev Canon E. Arthur Berry M. A., the Rev. Francis Woodmass, and the Rev. Frank Spencer. Alongside the lectures, at regular intervals over the course of the evening slave spirituals were sung by Rev. Noel Hutchcroft and Messrs Needlers’ Choir.[21]
When he returned to the region five years later, Wilson had a more pressing agenda. In 1928 he arrived to gather support for the campaign against contemporary slavery. Although Britain had abolished slavery in the Empire in 1833, with many other countries including the United States of America following her lead, it was still widely practiced in many parts of the world. Between 1922 and 1928, Morocco, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran all abolished slavery. However, it was still prevalent in certain areas of Africa.
On 5 February 1928 Wilson visited three different locations within the East Riding area, these were Bourne Chapel in Driffield, Thornton Hall and later Garden Village Hall in Hull.[12] He spoke about those who were in bondage and advised what people in the area could do to help the campaign. In a report by the Hull Daily Mail, readers were advised, ‘Mr Wilson is interesting enough when he talks about the political and social conditions of Africa, but his purpose is not political, but religious, and his message to the people of England is to do their utmost to free the millions of slaves still in bondage in Africa, Arabia, India and China. “Slavery,” he says, is an insult to both God and man.’[13]
It is likely that Wilson was received warmly by the people of the region as in early March he returned to Thornton Hall and gave another public lecture.[14] It is probable that his talk began with a reminder of the ties between the city and the abolition of the slave trade through William Wilberforce. However, his talk highlighted that further work had to be done to ensure that slavery was completely abolished. In this lecture, he advised that ‘progress towards the complete emancipation of slaves throughout the world would be tediously slow unless the full weight of public opinion supported the League of Nations in its humanitarian work.’[15]
Wilson then moved on to other areas in the North, however he was back at Kings Hall on Fountain Road on 6 May 1928. It was reported by the Hull Daily Mail that, ‘His subjects on Sunday will be, in the afternoon, ‘My sale into Slavery,” and in the evening, “My encounter with General Gordon.” The advertisement went on to state that, ‘Negro spirituals will be sung by Mr S. S. Sanderson, the well-known Hull tenor, and the Rev N. F. Hutchcroft.’[16]
It is likely that during his lecture entitled, ‘My sale into Slavery,’ Wilson spoke about how once captured, the Dinka tribesmen were yoked by their necks, with their hands tied behind their backs and marched to an Arab camp.[17] It is possible that Wilson also detailed the relatively humane treatment of his first master and that he had been sold to his second master for ‘SIX YARDS OF CALICO’ which was a piece of cloth worth approximately 1s 3d (roughly £25 today) to pay a debt.[18] It is highly probable that Wilson capitalised upon his horrific experiences with his second master to demonstrate the despicable nature of slavery and thus rally support for the Anti-Slavery campaign. In his book he advised that ‘My new Master proved to be a creature who might fitly be called a Demon.’[19] Wilson’s second master violently beat him on a number of occasions, one case in particular which must have featured among his stories, was when he accidently got his captor’s ammunition wet during a hunting trip which resulted in him being severely beaten and left for dead. On being returned to his master days later, he was branded which was a common practice to mark out which slave belonged to a particular owner. Wilson’s cheek was sliced with a razor and the wound was rubbed with a mixture of gunpowder and salt to make a scar.[20]
On 9 May 1928 Wilson attended a meeting which was held at the City Hall to discuss and protest against contemporary slavery. At 7.30 p.m. the guests were seated and the speakers were gathered. The preachers included Bishop Welldon, Dean of Durham, the Lord Bishop of Hull, Lady Simon, and Mr J. H. Harris, supported by the Rev. W. Seldon Morgan, M. A., the Rev Canon E. Arthur Berry M. A., the Rev. Francis Woodmass, and the Rev. Frank Spencer. Alongside the lectures, at regular intervals over the course of the evening slave spirituals were sung by Rev. Noel Hutchcroft and Messrs Needlers’ Choir.[21]
Two years later on 9 November 1931 Wilson returned to Anlaby Road, Wesleyan Church where he gave a public talk to celebrate the Foreign Missionary Anniversary. A photograph of him (pictured left) and an extract about his life was published in the Hull Daily Mail on 7 November 1931.
On 24 July 1933, Wilson returned to Hull to celebrate the centenary of William Wilberforce’s death. The events held in the city included a display of autographed letters and books relating to Wilberforce at the Central Public Library located on Albion Street and an exhibition at Mortimer Galleries, Carr Lane which was opened by Lady Illingworth. The exhibition included a wax work figure of Wilberforce which was presented by Madam Tussauds and modelled on George Richmond’s well known portrait of the abolitionist painted in 1833. The figure was placed in a recreation of Wilberforce’s room with period furniture, curtains and books. The photograph below shows Wilson at this exhibition. |
Wilson travelled to Hull for the final time in the autumn of 1933. On 1 October he attended the Boulevard Baptist church and preached to the congregation from 10.30 a.m. The later years of life The last years of his life were difficult for Wilson. He could no longer travel the country after his wife became crippled with arthritis. At the age of seventy he applied for the old age pension, however his request was denied. Although he had lived in Britain for over fifty years, he had never applied for naturalisation papers which would have given him the same rights to a pension as British men.[22] Wilson died on 26 January 1946, at the approximate age of eighty-seven in a charity hospital outside Scunthorpe. He was buried in a grave next to his wife. However, after his death Wilson’s memory lived on and in 1988 a group of Dinka exiles came to Scunthorpe to honour his life. |
Photograph of Wilson with Una Marson (right) looking at Wilberforce at the centenary celebrations. Hull Museums Collection
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Footnotes
[1] Eva Trout Powell, Tell This in My Memory: Stories of Enslavement from Egypt, Sudan, and The Ottoman Empire (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2012), p. 82.
[2] Jehovah-Nissi: The Life-Story of Hatashil-Masha-Kathish, p. 26.
[3] Ibid, p. 40.
[5] Ibid, p. 49.
[6] Ibid, p. 49.
[7] Ibid, p. 56.
[8] Ibid, p. 56.
[9] Douglas H. Johnson, ‘Salim Wilson: The Black Evangelist of the North, Journal of Religion in Africa, XXI (1991), p. 27
[10] Hull Daily Mail, 3 February 1923, p. 3.
[11] Hull Daily Mail, 6 February 1928, p. 3.
[12] Hull Daily Mail, 4 February 1928, p. 5.
[13] Hull Daily Mail, 6 February 1928, p. 3.
[14] Hull Daily Mail, 24 February, p. 4.
[14] Hull Daily Mail, 6 February 1928, p. 3.
[16] Hull Daily Mail, 4 May 1928, p. 13.
[17] Jehovah-Nissi: The Life-Story of Hatashil-Masha-Kathish, p. 27.
[18] Ibid, p. 31 and Hull Daily Mail, 7 May 1928, p. 6.
[19] Ibid, p. 31.
[20] Ibid, p. 32.
[21] Hull Daily Mail, 7 May 1928, p. 6.
[22] Hull Daily Mail, 23 September 1933, p. 8.
[1] Eva Trout Powell, Tell This in My Memory: Stories of Enslavement from Egypt, Sudan, and The Ottoman Empire (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2012), p. 82.
[2] Jehovah-Nissi: The Life-Story of Hatashil-Masha-Kathish, p. 26.
[3] Ibid, p. 40.
[5] Ibid, p. 49.
[6] Ibid, p. 49.
[7] Ibid, p. 56.
[8] Ibid, p. 56.
[9] Douglas H. Johnson, ‘Salim Wilson: The Black Evangelist of the North, Journal of Religion in Africa, XXI (1991), p. 27
[10] Hull Daily Mail, 3 February 1923, p. 3.
[11] Hull Daily Mail, 6 February 1928, p. 3.
[12] Hull Daily Mail, 4 February 1928, p. 5.
[13] Hull Daily Mail, 6 February 1928, p. 3.
[14] Hull Daily Mail, 24 February, p. 4.
[14] Hull Daily Mail, 6 February 1928, p. 3.
[16] Hull Daily Mail, 4 May 1928, p. 13.
[17] Jehovah-Nissi: The Life-Story of Hatashil-Masha-Kathish, p. 27.
[18] Ibid, p. 31 and Hull Daily Mail, 7 May 1928, p. 6.
[19] Ibid, p. 31.
[20] Ibid, p. 32.
[21] Hull Daily Mail, 7 May 1928, p. 6.
[22] Hull Daily Mail, 23 September 1933, p. 8.