Parliament and the British Slave Trade
By the end of the 17th century Parliament, with Royal support and backing, had supervised the development of…
History of Slavery
Black Abolitionists and the end of the transatlantic slave trade
The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act (1807) gave the Church an opportunity to address the controversial and…
The Origins of ‘slave food’: Callaloo, Dumplings and Saltfish
The actual origins of Callaloo are widely contested. For Trinidadians, Callaloo is one part of their national dish:…
Africa before Transatlantic Enslavement
The African continent is now recognised as the birthplace of humanity and the cradle of civilization. We still…
Toussaint Louverture: The First Successful Slave Revolt Leader
Little is known for certain about Toussaint Louverture’s early life, as there are contradictory accounts and evidence about…
Elizabeth Heyrick: Abolitionist Campaigner
Born as Elizabeth Coltman, in 1789, in Leicester, Elizabeth became a member of the Society of Friends and…
The Atlantic Slave Trade
The vast majority of slaves transported to the New World were Africans from the central and western parts…
Life on board slave ships
Conditions on board ship during the Middle Passage were appalling. The men were packed together below deck and…
Community Heroes of the Past: Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther
Since its formation in 1532 under the guide of King Henry VIII, the Anglican Church has been a…
Recap: Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners
This documentary follows the research undertaken by the UCL database, which I wrote about here. Currently the first…
“Legacies of British Slave-Ownership”, A UCL Database
So when it came to my attention that there was a database detailing the compensation claims of almost…
Scotland and Slavery
Scots proudly played their part in the abolition of the trade. But for a time we misted over…
The Welsh slave owner and anti-abolitionist MP Richard Pennant
In Jamaica there exists a community called Pennants. It was named after a family that arrived from Flintshire,…
Liverpool and the Slave Trade
The town and its inhabitants derived great civic and personal wealth from the trade which laid the foundations…
Ottobah Cugoano
Ottobah Cugoano, also known as John Stuart (c.1757 – after 1791), was an African abolitionist who was active…
The Welsh abolitionists
The abolitionists were up against some formidable economic interests – and some of them even ended up getting…
