Reasonable Blackman ( 1579âÂÂ1592) (also possibly known as John Reason, Reasonable Blakemore and Reasonable Blackmore) was a silk weaver resident in Southwark, London, in the late 16th century. He was among the earliest people of African heritage to be living and working as an independent business owner in London in that era. He may have come to London via the Netherlands, which had a relatively significant African population at the time from Spanish and Portuguese colonies and also a significant trade in silk.
The first record of Blackman is dated to 1579 in the records of St Saviour's church (later Southwark Cathedral), for a reservation for the Easter Sunday service. By 1587 Blackman was married and therefore clearly had sufficient means to support a family. It has been suggested that he made costumes for the theatres in the area. He had at least three children, of whom at least one (Edward) was baptised at St Olave's Church, Southwark in February 1587, and a fourth child with a similar surname (John Blakemore) who was also baptised at St Olave's on 26 October 1579 may also have been his. Two of his children, Edmund and Jane, died of bubonic plague in 1592. They were buried with due ritual in St Olave's churchyard.