| Biography | The following biography was provided by Chloe Phillips, History PhD student, University of Leicester, July 2025. Numbers in brackets are references to the Sources listed below.
Although William Dixon came to Britain aged eighteen, he first appears in the British archival record in the registers of Bodmin Gaol, Cornwall in January 1871, aged 29 (1). Described as a ‘Black’ seafarer from Sierra Leone, with ‘Scar on forehead’, he was imprisoned for ‘Disobeying the commands of Francesco Mifsud, Master of the Ship “Emmanuel” of Malta’, and spent three weeks working the treadwheel at the prison as punishment. He was not the only Black sailor to appear in Bodmin Gaol (although their appearance was rare), but he is unusual as he can be traced through the archival record for more than forty years. After serving his sentence he returned to sea and, at the time of the 1871 census in April, he was recorded as an Able Seafarer aboard the vessel Hebe, where he was the only non-German crew member (2). However, a decade later, he had swapped shipboard life for shore work, and was living in Birkenhead as a ‘Laborer in ship yards’, lodging with a plasterer and his family (3). By 1891 he had left maritime life behind, and was working as a labourer and living at a stoker’s house in Coalville, Leicestershire (4). He was clearly mobile, and did not marry. By 1901 he had moved on again, to Derby, where he was, aged sixty, labouring at an ironworks and lodging with a local family (5).
The 1911 census revealed that he was a patient in Derby Borough Asylum (also known as Kingsway hospital); the records of that asylum provide more information about his life (6). He was admitted to the asylum in 1907 and was diagnosed with ‘delusional mania’, but he was also suffering from syphilis, contracted before his arrival in Britain around fifty years before, and a common affliction of sailors (7). The case book includes a physical description, including that he had ‘black curly hair turning grey’ and a beard, was ‘Very religious’ and did not drink or smoke (8). Regular case notes in the same volume record intrusive details about his body and symptoms, including commentary on his physical state, such as of his ‘Alimentary system’, as well as, inevitably, his mental health. He was paranoid about being poisoned, and did not trust medical professionals. Dixon was very thin upon his arrival, weighing only 105lbs, but swiftly gained weight, putting on 27 pounds in six months, and suggesting he may have struggled to take care of himself before. He stayed in the asylum for four years, with ‘indifferent’ health and several ailments resulting in his death there on 11 November 1911, aged 70; he was buried by Derby Union (9). |
| Source | (1) Kresen Kernow, AD1676/4/10, #195, ‘Criminal register, Bodmin, 1869-1872’; Derbyshire Record Office [DRO], D5874/29/3, ‘Male Case Book Vol 6, Jul 1905-May 1909’.
(2) Find My Past [FMP], ‘1871 census, William Dixon’, 2025 <https://www.findmypast.co.uk> [accessed 8 July 2025].
(3) FMP, 1881 census, William Dixon’.
(4) FMP, 1891 census, William Dixon’.
(5) FMP, 1901 census, William Dixon’.
(6) FMP, 1911 census, W Dixon’.
(7) DRO, D5874/29/3.
(8) DRO, D5874/29/3.
(9) DRO, D5874/1/1, Index of Patients, c1888-1952; DRO, D5874/25/1, Register of Deaths, Apr 1897-Feb 1947. |