The History of British Slavery

The Guardian has a recent article "The history of British slave ownership has been buried, now its scale can be revealed."  It is a fascinating overview of the extent and depth of slaves and the slave trade in Great Britain. There were the widows who inherited a slave and rented out their slaves in work-gangs.  The highest rates of  slave ownership was in Scotland.  The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 formally freed 800,000 Africans. What is less well known is that the same act contained a provision for the financial compensation of the owners of those slaves, by the British taxpayer, for the loss of their “property”.

Much more is revealed.

The articles provides links to the Legacies of British Slave Ownership and which has a free online database of British slave holders.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat