Slavery and West Yorkshire

The Slave Trade.

Evidence of local and regional links to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the abolitionist movement.

This selection of examples has been created with teaching in Bradford in mind. It contains a selection of local and regional links to the Slave Trade for use in lessons.

Rationale

The new National Curriculum for History has made the teaching of the Slave Trade a compulsory element. At the same time there are other developments to the curriculum which can be related to the issue of Slavery and / or the abolition movement.

Cultural Diversity: a study of the Slave Trade within a localised context can illustrate the way in which the population of an area changed over time and in many areas will enable analysis of the long term reasons for the development of a multicultural society. Whilst this clearly isn’t restricted to the Slave Trade, there are many links between it and migration from other areas. For example, in Bradford, traders from Europe moved into the area to take advantage of the growing Woollen Trade. The Wool Trade itself having some links with the Slave Trade and many links with port cities that had major links with Slavery. Such developments can be compared with the reasons for later migration to the area.

Community participation: for many pupils the Slave Trade can appear to be totally unrelated to them, their families or the locality in which they live. Making use of examples from the town / city in which they live, along with a range of wider regional examples, helps to make it clear to pupils that it was not only a trade that affected large port cities in the country but one which had long lasting and significant consequences on trade, economics and politics across the country. Using references to locals who were involved in the Trade (or abolitionist movement) opens up a number of possibilities. Firstly, it enables the involvement of the local archives and / or newspapers. Where records can be found online, as is the case with all of the following examples, there will be documentary or physical evidence in the form of plaques / memorials of these involvements. This allows teachers and pupils to bring experts from outside school into the classroom and has the potential to enable students to make use of artefacts and / or primary documents from the time. At worst, contacting the relevant archive will enable the use of facsimile copies of documents relevant to the local area. It also enables community participation. Many of the organisations that opposed the Slave Trade in the 19^th century are still in existence. For example, local churches may have sent a petition to Parliament calling for the abolition of the Slave Trade. Ministers in these churches may be able to access original minutes of these meetings, and will almost certainly be willing to involve themselves or members of their congregation in activities relating to the ethical reasons for opposing Slavery then, and in the modern world.

Local History: The Slave Trade had an economic impact on many parts of the country. In many areas it is possible to see where and how areas were affected by Slavery. The political impact of Slavery ought not to be ignored. In many areas there was an open debate about the rights and wrings of Slavery and there are documents pertaining to both sides of the Slavery argument available for many areas. In Bradford and West Yorkshire it is easy to make links between a resurgent anti-Slavery movement and the development of radical politics in the area. It is also possible to look at the development of religious movements in the area and the varied attitudes to Slavery that these organisations had.

Critical Thinking: The examples that I have included in the following evidence table provide a range of opportunities for activities that develop pupils thinking skills. On a simple level this can be through use of effective questioning. For example, asking pupils to consider why Bradford merchants are campaigning against Slavery AFTER it has been abolished throughout the whole of the British Empire. This provides an opportunity t place Slavery and Trade within a wider International context and should lead to them realising that it wasn’t just the British who were engaged in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Note: The protests following abolition were aimed at American trade partners who still held Slaves. There were also traders who continued to trade in Slaves, but outside of the British Empire: Brazil being one such destination for Slaves following the acts of 1807 and 1833.

Slavery and West Yorkshire

Date	Type of link	Summary and evidence link
Roman Britain		“Some slaves were encouraged by their masters to learn a trade; one such slave became a goldsmith and dedicated an altar at Norton in Yorkshire.” Evidence link
Anglo-Saxon	Slavery: National Context	There is a description of Slavery in the Anglo-Saxon period in, "A History of Yorkshire from Bulmer's Gazetteer (1892)." The Saxons called the native Britons, 'wealas', which meant foreigner or slave, from this derogatory term Cymru became Wales. Evidence link
14^th century	Slavery: DIRECT local link	“an English slave and his family were sold for 13s. 4d” Evidence link
1503	Slavery: International Context	The first African Slaves are transported to the Americas by Spanish traders. Evidence link
1562	Slavery: National context	John Hawkins first voyage to Sierra Leone.
1618	Slavery: National context	The Guinea Company The Guinea Company ‘Company of adventurers of London trading to the ports of Africa’ was incorporated and became the first private company to colonize Africa for profit. Evidence link
1630’s	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Members of the Batt family (of Oakwell Hall) move to the New World to make their fortune. They become plantation owners. In 1782 one of the family’s slaves became the first recorded Black person to be baptised in the region. Evidence link
1656	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Rev. Zechariah Symmes, an early settler in the new world wrote: "Much ado I have with my own family, hard to get a servant glad of catechising or family duties. I had a rare blessing of servants in Yorkshire and those I brought over were a blessing, but the young brood doth much afflict me." He is referring to the negro slaves that his family now had. Evidence link
1660	Slavery: National Context	Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa was created 1660, and re-founded in 1663, by Prince Rupert and James, Duke of York, to meet the colonists’ labour needs. King Charles II encouraged the expansion of the slave trade, by granting a charter, and investing private funds. It collapsed in 1667 Evidence link
1672	Slavery: National Context	Royal African Company established. Evidence link
1697	Slavery: DIRECT local link	A list of debts of Captains George and Henry Beale, of Bradford, include a ‘Negro girl’ valued at £28 and ‘four negroes’ at Montserrat, valued at £30. Evidence link
1713-1717	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Henry Lascelles had a share in 21 slave ships and was partly responsible for the trading of thousands of human beings.(Harewood House) Evidence link
1720-1772	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Diary of John Woolman. Woolman travelled extensively through North America and recorded his thoughts about and experiences of Slavery. In later life he travelled throughout Yorkshire giving talks about what he had seen in Slave run plantations etc. Evidence link
1750	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Francis Barber is brought from Jamaica as a Slave. He spends a year in a Yorkshire school before being sent to London to become the valet to Dr Samuel Johnson. Evidence link
1750	Slavery: African Dimension	King Tegbesu estimated to have an annual income in the region of £250000 from the sale of Africans to SlaveTraders. Evidence link
1744-1786	Slavery: INDIRECT local link	Liverpool shipping documents include references to ships related to the Wool Trade. Evidence link. Evidence link (Wool Registers Act section)
1756	Slavery: REGIONAL links	The “Cannon Hall” is purchased by the Spencer family. It takes Slaves to Antigua and returns to Europe with a cargo of cheap Slaves to sell in France. (Cannon Hall is in Barnsley, the Spencer family originate from Horsforth) Evidence link.
	Slavery: INDIRECT local link	The Canal systems built during the Industrial Revolution enabled the expansion of triangular trade, including export of goods such as Wool. Also imports of goods from enslaved areas. Evidence link 1
1772	Slavery: National context	The Somerset Case is heard in London.
1772	Slavery: REGIONAL links	John Woolman, a Quaker who had moved to York to preach about the horrors of Slavery, dies. Evidence link
1772-1778	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Robert Foster, who later inherited Hebblethwaite Hall, Sedbergh, Yorkshire, visits all of the British West Indies isles except Jamaica. He also fights against the French whilst on board Royal Navy vessels. He later campaigns on behalf of William Wilberforce in election campaigns. Evidence link
1773	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Robert Walker, a Quaker from Gildersome, travels to America. He later reports to Parliament on conditions Slaves endured. His death was discussed at a meeting of Yorkshire Quakers in Bradford in March, 1786. Evidence link
1774	Slavery: National Context	John Wesley publishes his denunciation of the Slave Trade.
1775	Slavery: REGIONAL links	The Spencer family fortune is inherited by Walter Spencer. He is a friend of William Wilberforce and actively campaigns for the abolition of the Slave Trade. Evidence link
1782	Slavery: REGIONAL links	First record of an African being Baptised in the region: “Baptised 2nd November 1782 Daniel Whitley an Ethiopian by birth from the coast of Guinea, living with Richard Henry Beaumont at Whitley Hall.” Evidence link
1783	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Christopher Fredrick Triebner makes a claim for Slave losses incurred at the hands of American Loyalists. Triebner is a preacher of German descent who preached in Hull. In died in Leeds in1815. Evidence link
1783	Slavery: National Context	The Zong Case is heard in London.
1784-1833	Slavery: REGIONAL links	William Wilberforce, MP for Hull, leads the campaign for the abolition of Slavery. Evidence link
1787	Slavery: REGIONAL links	By 1787 the Lascelles family had a financial involvement in 47 plantations across the whole of the West Indies. Evidence link
1788		Dolben Act. Introduces regulations for Slave Trading ships. Minimum requirements introduced relating to conditions on board. Evidence link
1789	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Sheet metal workers from Sheffield petition Parliament calling for the abolition of Slavery. This is a particularly brave move on their part, as much of the produce they manufacture is exported to plantations – so abolition could affect their own livelihoods. Evidence link
1790	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Olaudah Equiano visits Sheffield and speaks about his experiences as a Slave. Evidence Link
1791	Slavery: REGIONAL links	William Black, a migrant from Yorkshire to Nova Scotia, is appointed as a Methodist Preacher. He preaches to Black Loyalist congregations about freedom. Evidence link
1791	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Susannah Atkinson writes to Gustavus Vassa (Olaudo Equiano) on 29 March 1791 to apologise for the treatment he received in Huddersfield. Evidence Link
1792	Slavery: REGIONAL links	The Leeds Intelligencer reported on 5 March 1792 that the city's inhabitants wondered how African converts could be won when they suffered 'the cruelty and injustice of those Christian States who are the authors of their present misery'. Evidence link
1793	Slavery: REGIONAL links	8000 people sign a petition from the people of Sheffield calling for an end to the Slave Trade. Evidence link
1801	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Edward Baines purchases the Leeds Mercury. This newspaper is one of the region’s leading media opponents of the Slave Trade in the coming years. Evidence link
1802	Slavery	West India Quay, in Docklands, London, is opened. It was described on its opening as being, ““the largest feat of civil engineering since the building of the pyramids.” Evidence link
1807	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Henry Lascelles, 2^nd Earl of Harewood, stands for Parliament against William Wilberforce (he fails to gain election and Slavery is the main campaigning issue). Evidence link
1807	Slavery: National context	Parliament passes an act prohibiting the importation of Slaves.
1809	Slavery: REGIONAL links	James Montgomery, of Sheffield, publishes his poem, “The West Indies.” Poem is included in the information in the Evidence link
1819	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Skelmanthorpe Flag. This flag was a protest banner that was created at some stage between the Peterloo massacre and the Great Reform Act. It’s bottom right quadrant includes a kneeling slave and the line "Am I not a Man and Brother" Evidence link
1822-1832	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Soldiers from the 33^rd Regiment of Foot (West Yorkshire, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment) were stationed in Jamaica. 42 of these local men chose not to return to England at the end of the posting. Evidence Link
1823	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Mary Skelton of Little Horton leaves her share in ‘Yorkshire House’ along with its negroes and Slaves to her 3 sons. Evidence link.
1824	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Sheffield Society for Abolition of Slavery founded. Evidence link
1825 (circa)	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Ira Aldridge, the first classical black stage actor in the UK marries Margaret Gill of Yorkshire. Evidence link
1830	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Lecture on the substance of British Colonial Slavery given by Benjamin Godwin. Evidence link (Page 318)
7^th June 1830	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Petitions to the House of Lords calling for the immediate end of Slavery were heard from: The inhabitants of Bradford; Thornton and Clayton; Shipley; the Freeholders of Wilsden cum Allerton; Bowling; Horton and North Bierley. Evidence link.
12^th November 1830	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Petitions sent to the Lords from: Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at Eccleshill, Eastbrook Chapel in Bradford Evidence link Petitions sent to the Lords from: Methodist Chapel, Skipton Inhabitants of the Township of Rawden
15^th November 1830	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Petitions sent to the Lords from: Members of a Society and Congregation of Wesleyan Methodists worshipping God at their Chapel, Bradford Moor, Wesleyan Methodists worshipping at Calverley, Morton Banks Chapel,
November 1830	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Similar petition sent to the house of Lords from Queenshead Chapel, Bradford. Evidence link
1830	Slavery: COMPARISON with local conditions	YORKSHIRE SLAVERY statement by Richard Oastler, September 1830. “Let truth speak out, appalling as the statement may appear. The fact is true. Thousands of our fellow-creatures and fellow-subjects, both male and female, the miserable inhabitants of a Yorkshire town, (Yorkshire now represented in Parliament by the giant of anti-slavery principles) are this very moment existing in a state of slavery, more horrid than are the victims of that hellish system 'colonial slavery. These innocent creatures drawl out, unpitied, their short but miserable existence, in a place famed for its profession of religious zeal, whose inhabitants are ever foremost in professing 'temperance' and 'reformation', and are striving to outrun their neighbours in missionary exertions, and would fain send the Bible to the farthest corner of the globe-aye, in the very place where the anti-slavery fever ragest furiously, her apparent charity is not more admired on earth, than her real cruelty is abhorred in Heaven. The very streets which receive the droppings of an 'Anti-Slavery Society' are every morning wet by the tears of innocent victims at the accursed shrine of avarice, who are compelled (not by the cart-whip of the negro slave-driver) but by the dread of the equally appalling thong or strap of the over-looker, to hasten, half-dressed, but not half-fed, to those magazines of British infantile slavery-the worsted mills in the town and neighbourhood of Bradford!” Evidence Link
14^th April 1831	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Petition sent to the house of Lords by Wesleyan Methodists of Bradford and another from the Baptists of Keighley, Evidence link
1833	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Henry Lascelles received £26,309 as compensation from the British Government for the loss of his slaves after emancipation. Evidence link
1833-1840	Slavery: DIRECT local link	The Spence family of Gildersome (a branch of the family also lived in North Shields) had 3 servants, one of whom was an escaped Slave from Virginia. Evidence link
1834	Slavery: National Context	Slavery abolished in all British territories.
1836	Slavery: DIRECT local link	‘Bradford Remonstrance’ Bradford traders and Quakers make resolution against Slavery aimed at American business partners. Evidence Link (page 90)
1838	Slavery: REGIONAL links	A letter of conveyance from Anthony Wilkinson (of Huddersfield) to John Clarke includes 112 Slaves in Jamaica. Evidence link (1) Evidence link 2
1840’s	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Slaves in the United States were issues with Woollen blankets, mainly produced in Yorkshire, to sleep under. Evidence link
1841	Slavery: DIRECT local link	“Sugar Debate” in Bradford. Part of national series of debates. Evidence link (Page 7)
1848	Slavery: REGIONAL links	“A Tribute For The Negro” is published by William Armistead of Leeds. It is aimed at gaining freedom for Slaves in the United States. Evidence link
1849	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Angus Bethune Reach observes that waste cloth and wool in Yorkshire mills is transported to America to be used for Slaves garments. Evidence link
1850	Slavery: REGIONAL links	“Flogging a Slave Fastened to the Ground” is published by Leeds Anti-Slavery society. Evidence link
1850’s	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Lectures in the 1850s from the ‘fugitive slave’ John Brown, and Bradford Liberal MP W.E. Forster. Evidence link
May 1860	Slavery: REGIONAL links	A memorial from the Leeds Young Men’s Anti-Slavery Society is sent to Wesleyan ministers in America imploring them to not share communion with those who hold, or have held Slaves. It cites an example of a disbarred bishop from 1811. Evidence link
1861	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Pablo Fanque, Britain’s first Black Circus Owner is recorded in the Census as being resident in Bradford.
1862	Slavery: REGIONAL links	Thomas Jeffery, a preacher, dies. Jeffery had travelled 5000 miles to the West Indies to preach to ‘the poor blacks’ and worked as a missionary. Evidence link
1863	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Anti-Slavery Demonstration held in Bradford. Evidence link
1865	Slavery: International Context	Slavery abolished in the United States.
1880’s	Slavery: DIRECT local link	The composer Frederick Delius, born in Bradford, writes Kouanga, a piece set on an American Plantation with many influences from the Black music he had experienced as a (post slavery) plantation owner (Delius owned an Orange Plantation in Florida in the 1880’s, with many former slaves on his staff). Evidence link
1881	Slavery: DIRECT local link	Census returns show a number of people who had links with Slavery and whom had probably migrated following the end of Slavery in the Empire and the United States. (Bradford and across the region) Evidence Link

Notes:

Many other petitions were sent to the House of Lords from chapels in the Bradford area. Only a selection of these have been included in this document. To find out whether petitions were sent from your local area, go to http://www.british-history.ac.uk/search.aspx

The search term I used was simply ‘Slavery+Bradford’ which returns 79 results. In addition to these, there are other entries for outlying parts of the district, which require more specific searches.

Leeds is listed over 100 times in relation to Slavery; Huddersfield 32 times; Halifax 77 times; and the County of York over 400 times.

Finding information for other parts of the country:

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/search.aspx - search for Slavery+(place name) to see if petitions calling for abolition were sent from your locality.

Search your regional BBC website for ‘Abolition.’ Most regional sites included a dedicated section on the Slave Trade to mark the bicentenary of the 1807 Act of Parliament. Typically these sections include a major article about local involvement and several further articles about commemorative events and local links. You should be able to find a number of ‘good’ local examples via this method.

Contact your local library or archive service to enquire about local records relating to the Slave Trade. Likewise, if your local newspaper is old enough, search through their archives to see how they reported major events relating to Slavery.

Contact your LEA and / or local University. Many LEA’s created resource packs for the bicentenary and your local University may have professors, lecturers or students who have researched the impact of Slavery in your area.

Use information from local exhibitions about the Slave Trade. A list of some of these and other commemorative events from around the United Kingdom is included at the end of this document.

Yorkshire Slave Traders and families connected to the Slave Trade

The Vassall Family. 1769-1800 – Evidence link (Papers held at East Ardsely, Wakefield). Samuel Vassall held lands in North Yorkshire and Plantations in the Americas.

The Lascalles Family.

Witham Family, of Garforth. Evidence link (Page55)

Robinsons of Rokeby – Thomas Robinson was governor of Barbados. Evidence link

Sidgewicks of Skipton – Evidence link

Caruses of Tunstall Evidence link

Sill Family of Dent Evidence link

Sutton Family (Thornton in Lothersdale) Evidence link

Mason Family of Dent Evidence link

The Bruce family (North Yorks) sold a plantation to a former slave in 1849. Evidence link.

Parker family of Browsholme Hall. Evidence link

Thomas Bates of Halifax was a business partner of plantation owners. Evidence link

Interesting Links / Articles

Yorkshire link with Africa revealed.

Detailed look at various aspects of Slavery

Slave Voices from the collections of Duke University, USA.

An African in Oldham in the 1700’s

Unlocking the Chains

Letters from Jamaica 1782-1784

Hidden Heritage

Why have we been forgotten?

The Middle Passage – from Durham University

Anti-Slavery Literature

Whose abolition? Popular pressure and the ending of the British slave trade

Slavery Projects

A selection of links to useful websites about the Slave Trade and / or the abolition movement. The list contains general links followed by a series of links to exhibitions, museums and events that have taken place in each of the HA regions.

Northern Ireland

http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/Research/HumanRightsCentre/Resources/video/InternationalHumanRightsLawVideoLibrary/SlaveryProjectVideoLibrary/

http://www.hlf.org.uk/GEMS/Hidden%20Connections%20FINAL.doc

http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=7941&count=471&recno=18&sort=ort&order=up

http://www.casbah.ac.uk/surveys/archivereportsPRONI.stm

http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/news/news.asp?id=1047&month=October%202007

The Slave Trade.

Slavery and West Yorkshire

There is a description of Slavery in the Anglo-Saxon period in, "A History of Yorkshire from Bulmer's Gazetteer (1892)."

The Saxons called the native Britons, 'wealas', which meant foreigner or slave, from this derogatory term Cymru became Wales. Evidence link

Notes:

Finding information for other parts of the country:

Yorkshire Slave Traders and families connected to the Slave Trade

Interesting Links / Articles

Slavery Projects

National / International

South East

South West

Midlands

East Anglia

North West

North East

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/Research/HumanRightsCentre/Resources/video/InternationalHumanRightsLawVideoLibrary/SlaveryProjectVideoLibrary/

There is a description of Slavery in the Anglo-Saxon period in, "A History of Yorkshire
from Bulmer's Gazetteer (1892)."