Scipio Handley

Scipio Handley (fl. 1775–1784) was a free Negro who lived in British North America during the late 1700s. Initially a fisherman and fishmonger in the Province of South Carolina, Handley is best known as a Black Loyalist who assisted the British cause during the American Revolution. In 1775, he was caught by Patriots and sentenced to death for serving as a courier for Lord William Campbell, the royal governor of the province. However, Handley escaped from his imprisonment and accompanied the royal governor to Barbados, where he joined the Royal Navy. With the military, he served on the British side during the Siege of Savannah, during which time he was severely wounded. Following the war, he was brought to England and appeared before a government commission in London for the compensation of losses suffered during the revolution. He was awarded £20, becoming the only Black Loyalist to receive financial compensation for property losses. After 1784, he disappears from the historical record.