British slave owners, tracking the money and the stories of the enslaved

29th May 6.30pm
Showcase of unique database that shows who got money from the abolition of slavery, how much, what they spent it on and where they lived

This event is organised by Black History Walks in conjunction with the Sarah Parker Remond Centre at U.C.L

An updated repeat of the over-subscribed launch of LBS (Legacies of British Slave-ownership) database,(see 2013 video clip below) tracing the ownership of estates from the 1760s to the 1830s, incorporating 20,000 new individuals and linking 8,000 estates in the British Caribbean to the slave compensation records.

The project is now focusing on the history and legacy of the enslaved people in the Caribbean and have recently changed their name to Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery. This event will provide more detail on the Centre’s future plans and how the database can be developed to trace the lives of enslaved people.

In 1834 when the British abolished slavery in the Caribbean the government paid 20 million pounds in compensation to the owners of the enslaved Africans.

Many people have wondered who exactly got that money and what they did with it. Which islands and plantations benefited ? What institutions were established ? What was the cultural and economic legacy of this massive payout ? Can it be identified and quantified ? A team of scholars from UCL have been researching exactly these questions and more. Over the last 11 years they have collated research on several thousand beneficiaries and created a searchable, user-friendly website that covers…

  • Which individuals received monies and how much.
  • Which houses they lived in and what they bought
  • Which cultural/ educational institutions they established or supported with the money
  • What islands/plantations/ individuals in the Caribbean were compensated
  • Exactly how banks and financial institutions used the money to further the needs of empire
  • The role of slave-owners as writers and historians
  • The connections between the compensation, finance companies and political parties
  • Physical legacies; buildings, statues, parks, docks, railways, bridges, libraries
  • How to use the website to expand your own personal, professional or genealogical research

This event will be a series of short presentations from:

Professor Matthew Smith : Historical context of the research and database, updates, new findings and their significance

Rachel Lang : Tracing the lives of slave-owners and enslaved people.

Tony Warner: How this history links to the streets you live and work in

Plus Q& A

This is an online event at 6.30pm UK/GMT time. The Zoom link will be sent 30 minutes before the start please check your JUNK MAIL . Look out for our new book Black History Walks in London Volume 1 from Jacaranda Books

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