Researchers Identify Enslaved Boy in Joshua Reynolds Painting

"A certain Black boy called Boston Jersey baptised by the name of George Walker aged fifteen. The baptism took place in a chapel in Westminster, London, on July 30, 1752, which would have made him roughly 11 years old in the Reynolds painting. His Jersey nickname likely came through a connection with his master, who belonged to a family of Huguenot refugees that had fled France for Jersey. Ourry himself was born in St Helier, a town on the Channel Island."

"For centuries, the boy was known simply as “Jersey,” but information found in admiralty records and national archives has detailed his name and years of military service. The 1748 oil on canvas presents a fair-haired Paul Henry Ourry in the finery of a Royal Navy lieutenant striking a stoic pose. A Black boy with a dazzling white turban and a pearl earring stands at Ourry's clenched right-hand, looking up with perplexed interest."

"As for the Boston part, it's thought the boy may have lived in the royal colony of Boston, Massachusetts, prior to arriving in England. The painting was commissioned by the Corporation of Plympton, along with a portrait of Captain George Edgumbe, which Reynolds executed in his Plymouth Dock studio. Today, the portrait hangs in the saloon of , an early Georgian mansion in Devon, southwest England."

"A key motivation for our research was to explore whether more could be discovered about Jersey than merely his supposed name. Could we acknowledge and honor him as a"

A 1748 oil painting by Joshua Reynolds shows a fair-haired Paul Henry Ourry in Royal Navy lieutenant finery, with a Black boy in a white turban and pearl earring standing beside him. The boy was long known only as “Jersey,” but admiralty and national archive records connect the nickname to a baptismal entry for a Black boy called Boston Jersey, baptized as George Walker at Westminster on July 30, 1752. The baptism date suggests he was about 11 when the painting was made. The “Jersey” name likely came from a master connected to Huguenot refugees from France, and “Boston” may indicate time in the royal colony of Boston, Massachusetts. After discharge, his later life remains unknown.

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