black person in the bow street runners? - City of Vice (2008) Discussion

[–] kathquay 17 years ago

Not any more, he was discovered to be a Molly and so he had to go. Bow Street runners had to be unimpeachable and beyond reproach. His sexuality would have left him open to blackmail. Although in real life, such a good actor probably has another great role to go to.

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[–] anatja 17 years ago

Oh god, not another one.

Who cares? It was a bloody good story.

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[–] aardvark63 17 years ago

I heard that up to 10% of the population of London at this time was probably black, so it's quite possible.

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[–] allan-143 17 years ago

where did you hear that crap! god people will beleave anything these days

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[–] wieldy 17 years ago

Apparently it it historically documented fact that one of the first Bow Street Runners under Henry Fielding was a Jamaican man. Do some digging around on the history of the Bow Street Runners (as I did) and you'll find this information.

Dear Buddha, please send me a pony and a plastic rocket.

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[–] anatja 17 years ago

Seems Allen would believe any old crap the Daily Mail feeds to him!

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[–] perpetual_newbie 17 years ago

haha nice

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[–] Monknificent 16 years ago

Don't you mean "beleave"? ;)

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[–] Keester 8 years ago

Why not quote your sources unless they don't exist and you're just making it up and want people to waste time researching as you say you have done.

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[–] combatreview 17 years ago

>>>where did you hear that crap! god people will beleave anything these days

I know, I know... do you know, historians are trying to teach kids that Angles and Saxons were German immigrants!!! It's outrageous that popular prejudice and uninformed assumption should start to be replaced by things like academic deduction and research!

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[–] Perkin-warbeck 17 years ago

Excellent reply sir!

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[–] eleanorb-1 17 years ago

Yes, it was historical fact that the Runners employed at least one Jamaican man.

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[–] BrianSewell 17 years ago

A black male open to blackmail

Read this quick before IMDB delete it.

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[–] biggerg_59 17 years ago

Hahahaha very good.

Wasn't it mentioned at one point that he was actually Ethiopian, and that Jamiaca Mary was just his Molly nickname?
Although i think it was by the scummy journalist character so he was probably talking rubbish, also if I'm not mistaken wasn't present day Ethiopia called Abysinia back then?

A black male open to blackmail, heehee still makes me giggle

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[–] kevinpurcell 17 years ago

Jamaica Mary is Jamaican (listen to his accent) not Ethiopian.

It was very common at the time to refer to black people as "Ethiopian" even do they didn't come from Ethiopia. Check with the bible ... you can see the same terminology used which is, I presume, where the 18th usage comes from.

And no Ethiopia was Ethiopia way back then (and an independent country too) though it was known as Abyssinia in English. Rather like calling the country España Spain in English.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia

"In English and generally outside of Ethiopia, the country was also once historically known as Abyssinia, derived from Habesh, an early Arabic form of the Ethiosemitic name "Ḥabaśāt" (unvocalized "ḤBŚT"), modern Habesha, the native name for the country's inhabitants (while the country was called "Ityopp'ya")."

Ah, I see IMDB doesn't do Unicode :-)

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[–] julie_robin2 16 years ago

I recently went round the 'Museum of the Docklands' in London, and they had a few information boards on this subject. One stated the following...

"African people were a familiar presence in London by the 1700s, having arrived in Britain before the 1500s.

By the 1780s about 15,000 people of African origin were living in Britain, principally in London.
Most, having liberated themselves, were living free and independently alongside London's poorer classes -but others were well to do members of society".

I prefer Imaginality to reality.

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[–] vix-29 16 years ago

Yep it was only at that time in America that black people were more condemned... Here in Britain everyone seems welcome.

Pffft, all Americas immigration laws and the lot of them are immigrants!

*Every time you call me a girls name i die a little inside*

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[–] JaneDanton 11 years ago

I just googled black member Bow Street Runners and found no reports of him, only a result discrediting THIS programme for having a black character in the Runners, as the only blacks in 1750s England were slaves.....

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