MR Lisle’s sense of loss must have clouded his memory.

Strong was no runaway. Lisle had thrown him out, after beating him so badly that he could no longer work; if anything really offended him it was the sight of Jonathan looking so fit. Indeed, even as Jonathan languished in jail, Lisle hurriedly sold him to a Mr Kerr for £30.

Unable to find a lawyer to plead Jonathan’s cause, Sharp researched it himself, and his pamphlet planted sufficient doubt in legal minds to discourage Kerr from going to court straightaway.

Indeed, two years and a rather melodramatic challenge to a duel later (Sharp replied that Kerr would receive ‘satisfaction’ in the courts), the claims of ownership were suddenly dropped.

Kerr was fined £200 for wasting the court’s time, and Jonathan was set free. Admittedly Sharp’s claim, that slavery was so alien to British values that ‘owners’ had no rights here, had not yet come before a judge. But that day was drawing nearer.