The Curious Case of Mary Hylas: Wives, Slaves and the Limits of British Abolitionism.

The story of Mary Hylas offers a rare opportunity to examine a point of contact between metropolitan reformers and an Afro-Caribbean woman. Archival records related to the obscure case of Hylas v. Newton, heard in 1768, as well as the much more famous case of Somerset v. Stewart, heard in 1772, reveal how metropolitan reformers contended with slavery and marriage during the early years of political abolitionism in the British empire, and particularly how they attempted to contain their reforming rhetoric in order to condone marriage while condemning slavery. The records of Newton plantation, meanwhile, offer a window to the lived experiences of Mary Hylas. Life-long marriage was an unattainable and even undesirable ideal for many Afro-Caribbean women, Mary included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]