Hylas, an African slave, prosecuted a person of the name of Newton for having kidnapped his wife, and sent her to the West Indies.

The result of the trial was, that damages to the amount of a shilling were given, and the defendant was bound to bring back the woman, either by the first ship, or in six months from this decision of the court.
But soon after the work just mentioned was out, and when Mr.Sharp was better prepared, a third case occurred: this happened in the year 1770.
Robert Stapylton, who lived at Chelsea, in conjunction with John Malony and Edward Armstrong, two watermen, seized the person of Thomas Lewis, an African slave, in a dark night, and dragged him to a boat lying in the Thames; they then gagged him and tied him with a cord, and rowed him down to a ship, and put him on board to be sold as a slave in Jamaica.
This base action took place near the garden of Mrs.Banks, the mother of the late Sir Joseph Banks.

Lewis, it appears, on being seized, screamed violently.

The servants of Mrs.Banks, who heard his cries, ran to his assistance, but the boat was gone.

On informing their mistress of what had happened, she sent for Mr.Sharp, who began now to be known as the friend of the helpless Africans, and professed her willingness to incur the expense of bringing the delinquents to justice.