Reasonable Blackman

Reasonable Blackman was a silk weaver resident in Southwark, London, in the late 16th century. He was among the earliest people of African heritage to be living and working as an independent business owner in London in that era. He may have come to London via the Netherlands, which had a relatively significant African population at the time and also a significant trade in silk.
The first record of Blackman is in the records of St Saviour's church in 1579. By 1587 Blackman was married and therefore clearly had sufficient means to support a family. It has been suggested that he made costumes for the theatres in the area. He had at least three children, of whom at least one was baptised at St Olave's Church, Southwark in 1587, and a fourth child with a similar surname who was also baptised at St Olave's may also have been his. Two of his children, Edmund and Jane, died of bubonic plague in 1592. They were buried with due ritual in St Olave's churchyard.