Born in 1762 in Jamaica, Robert Wedderburn was the son of a Scottish sugar plantation owner and an enslaved black woman. Wedderburn's father sold his mother to another slave holder while she was pregnant with the stipulation that upon his birth Robert would be free.
Wedderburn left the plantation to become a sailor when he came of age. In 1778, he traveled to England and became a tailor.
In 1812, Wedderburn essentially began a tutelage to Thomas Spence, a radical reformer. Upon Spence's death, Wedderburn became a leader of the disciples who pledged to advance Spence's ideals. He also started his own Unitarian church.
Wedderburn was arrested several times for his radical remarks. He was charged with blasphemous libel when he advocated a simultaneous revolution of the European poor and the enslaved blacks in the West Indies.
In 1824, he published The Horros of Slavery, and spent the rest of his life championing free speech. The date of his death is unknown. Wedderburn is considered to be instrumental in achieveing freedom of the press in 19th century Britain.
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Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by writer Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to show that there is a long history of achievements of those involved in the Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.
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