As I mentioned in my post on Monday, October in the UK is Black History Month. We’re learning more and more about the rich and varied histories of Black communities and individuals in the UK. While doing some research, I came across a woman named Ann Duck.
Who was Ann Duck?
Viewers of the 2017 TV drama Harlots may be familiar with a character named Violet Cross. Violet’s character is based on Ann Duck. Records are sketchy, but Ann was born in the summer of 1717, and she was baptised at St. Dustan’s Church in Cheam, Surrey on 22nd July 1717.
Her parents, a Black man, John Duck, and a white woman, Ann Bough, married in August 1717 and had two more children. Ann’s father worked as a servant at Nonsuch Park near Cheam. Not long after her birth, the Ducks moved to London. From then, her father taught swordsmanship to the gentlemen of the Inns of Court. The family lived in Little White’s Alley off Chancery Lane in the centre of London.
Ann’s younger life was stable and ordinary. However, like many women, her life was subject to dependency on the men in it. Her brother joined the Royal Navy and following a shipwreck (I can’t find the date), he was captured and sold into slavery. In 1740, her life changed dramatically when her father died. This meant the women of the family had to find a means of supporting themselves and had few options.
Ann showed a talent for resourcefulness. In 1740, she became a servant in a bawdy house, but as one could expect, the wages were pitiful and there was no possibility of improving her circumstances. By 1742, Ann had turned to crime to support herself and joined a notorious criminal gang in Clerkenwell, the Black Boy Alley Crew.
Over the next few years, Ann was regularly charged and jailed for robbery or assault. What made her stand out was her audacity to commit crimes against men. When women were considered the gentle sex and incapable of violence, it seemed unnatural for her to dare to target men (Oh, how dreadful!). Ann often worked with other women to lure men into a house and rob them.
Was Ann Subversive?
Historian Kate Bernstock believes that Ann’s choice to target men set her apart and made society view her as a significant threat.
Over the years, Ann’s crimes became more violent. On September 21, 1744, she and Ann Barefoot assaulted and robbed George Cheshire. Three days later, when the Headborough of Clerkenwell came to arrest them, Ann Duck attacked him as part of a mob and left him for dead.
Eventually, the authorities arrested Ann and sentenced her to death at The Old Bailey on 17th October 1774. According to the Daily Gazetteer, it was the nineteenth time she had been brought to trial. Ann was later hanged at Tyburn.
Kate Bernstock argues that Ann’s brief life was a demonstration of her defiance against power hierarchies, despite the obstacles she encountered based on her class, gender, and race.
What’s clear is that when faced with adversity, Ann took on the overwhelming odds stacked against her. As a woman without the means of earning a decent income or the chance of improving her status after the death of her father, she did what she had to do to survive. Ann took advantage of the limited opportunities available to her to do what men deemed unthinkable – she was daring, resourceful and fought to survive. In other words, she behaved like them.
If you want to read more about Black history in Georgian Britain, check out my posts: Five Facts: Black Georgians and Black Women in Georgian Britain.
