Thomas Bluett

Who was Thomas Bluett?

Thomas Bluett was a British judge in Annapolis, Maryland.

Bluett gained lasting renown by the encounter with an African slave, Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, in 1731. While in jail in Annapolis, Ayuba was visited by Thomas Bluett. Thomas became impressed with him and, through another slave acting as interpreter, wrote Ayuba's biography "Some Memoirs of the Life of Job, the Son of Solomon, the High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was a Slave About Two Years in Maryland; and Afterwards Being Brought to England, was Set Free, and Sent to His Native Land in the Year 1734", which was published in London 1734. Bluett died in 1749.