Britain congratulated itself on having made trading in slaves illegal with the 1807 Act. While later legislation ostensibly strengthened the original Act’s provisions, there were persistent allegations, supported by evidence from the British Foreign and Anti-Slavery society among others, that British companies still profited from it. One of the few prosecutions against the owner of one such company, Pedro Zulueta, ended in his acquittal despite evidence to the contrary. The exploration of the economic, political and social factors underlying both trial and acquittal sheds light on the nineteenth-century British economy’s continuing semi-covert involvement in the trade.
2 There is continuing controversy about the interpretation of the available data on the numbers enslaved and on mortality. Necessarily, as the trade became illegal, official shipping returns omitted data on slavers. It should be borne in mind that import figures do not take into account the appalling mortality rates during the process of enslavement, the forced march to the coast, in the barracoons and during the middle passage. See Paul Lovejoy , ‘The volume of the Atlantic slave trade: a synthesis’ , Journal of African History (No. 23, 1982), pp. 473-501 .
3.
For the data on Cuba, see Franklin Knight , Slave Society in Cuba during the Nineteenth Century ( Madison, WI , 1970), p. 53.
4.
See also Eltis , who gives a figure of half a million ‘embarked’ from Africa between 1826 and 1875. (D. Eltis et al, The Transatlantic Slave Trade: a database on CD Rom ( Cambridge University Press , 1999), but note that his data is based on recognised slaving vessels and not even for all of these is data is available.)
5.
3 Some of the pertinent published government reports are The Settlements of Sierra Leone and Fernando Po, 1830, PP X, and The West Coast of Africa, 1842, PP XI and XII. Contemporary books include, e.g., F. H. Rankin , The White Man’s Grave ( London , 1836);
6.
Lt Forbes , Six Months’ Service in the African Blockade ( London , 1848).
7.
The reports of the African Institution and the Methodist and Church Missionary societies’ correspondence also contain relevant information. See also David Eltis , Economic Growth and the Ending of the Transatlantic Slave Trade ( Oxford , 1987).
8.
4 Ponsonby to Aberdeen (27 June 1829), PRO: FO84/95, quoted in Eltis Economic Growth, ibid., p. 327. According to J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins (British Imperialism (London, Longman 1993), p. 298) Brazil was ‘Britain’s most accommodating and most successful satellite in South America’ during the first half of the nineteenth century.
9.
5 David Turnbull, Cuba , with Notices of Puerto Rico and the Slave Trade ( London , 1840), p. 367.
10.
Anti-slavery agitators published many pamphlets and books on the trade - for example, Richard R. Madden , The Slave Trade and Slavery ( London , 1843);
11.
Thomas Fowell Buxton , The African Slave Trade and Its Remedy ( London , 1840);
12.
Forbes, Six Months’ Service, op. cit.;
13.
Sir GeorgeStephen, Anti-Slavery Recollections ( London , 1854).
14.
On Maclean’s relationship with Matthew Forster MP, London merchant and defender of slavery, see G. E. Metcalfe , Maclean of the Gold Coast ( London , 1962).
15.
6 See, for example, PRO: FO84/95, Lord Ponsonby from Rio De Janeiro to Lord Aberdeen (29 June 1829), ff. 82 et seq.
16.
7 Turnbull’s despatch enclosed in Treasury Secretary C.E. Trevelyan to S.M. Phillipps, (4(?) April 1842), PRO: HO45/352. See also PRO: FO84/616 Memorandum on British Subjects and Capital Engaged in the Slave Trade, 1834-1845. R. Madden, The Island of Cuba (London, 1849). See also Madden’s Letter to W.E. Channing (Boston, 1839), especially p. 6.
17.
8 Report from the Select Committee on the West Coast of Africa, 1842, PP XII, Appendix.
18.
9 Martin Lynn , Commerce and Economic Change in West Africa: the palm oil trade in the nineteenth century ( Cambridge , 1997), p.13;
19.
David A. Ross , ‘The career of Domingo Martinez in the Bight of Benin 1853-64’ , Journal of African History (Volume 6, no. 1, 1965), pp. 79-90 ;
20.
David Northrup , ‘The compatibility of the slave and palm oil trades in the Bight of Biafra’ , Journal of African History (Vol. 17, no. 3, 1976), pp. 353-364 . The palm oil trade had begun with ca.1,000 barrels in 1810; it had built up to 20,000 by 1843;
21.
according to Elizabeth Isichei, the palm oil trade and the slave trade existed side by side in the first third of the nineteenth century (History of West Africa Since 1800 ( London , 1977), p. 116).
22.
10 A Statement of Facts and Circumstances Relative to the Gun Trade ( London , 1820), pp. 27-28.
23.
11 W. A. Richards , ‘Black Country guns and the slave trade’ , Blackcountryman (Winter 1975), pp. 7-13 . During the period of the legal involvement in the slave trade, it was estimated that in the Black Country (the north-west industrial belt) 4,000 to 5,000 people were employed in manufacturing guns for the trade. My thanks to Birmingham archivist Fiona Tait for help with this.
24.
12 PRO: CUST 8, piece 5. My thanks to Dr Mandy Banton for digging this up for me. Martin Lynn, ‘Trade and politics in Liverpool in the nineteenth century: the Tobin and Horesfall families’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire (No. 142), pp. 99-120.
25.
13 Hansard, House of Commons, 1815 (Vol. 30, col. 658, 18 April 1815; Vol. 31, 5 May 1815); House of Lords (Vol. 31, cols. 557-8, 5 June 1815 and cols. 1062-4, 30 June 1815).
26.
14 Anti-Slavery Reporter (17 July 1840), p. 161. David Turnbull in his Cuba, op. cit., pp. 3-14, noted that the English consul Hardy (it is not clear whether he was consul at Mariel or Matanzas in Cuba) was one of the four ‘principal proprietors’ of a copper mine, 50 per cent of whose workers were slaves. The ore they produced was smelted in Swansea. The company’s ‘monthly clear profits were not less than 12,000£’. At the 1843 Anti-Slavery Convention, it was alleged that ‘many Englishmen’ were ‘proprietors’ of this company, the Cobre Copper Co. (BFASS, Proceedings of the General Anti-Slavery Convention (London 1843, Miami, 1969), p. 190).
27.
15 David Eltis points out in his ‘The British contribution to the nineteenth century slave trade’ , Economic History Review (1979), pp. 211-227 , that Brazil had no financial institutions of its own, hence all Brazilian trade depended on British credit.
28.
See also J. F. Rippy , British Investment in Latin America ( Minneapolis, University of Minnesota , 1959), p. 20.
29.
16 Hugh Thomas , The Slave Trade ( London, Picador , 1997), p. 589.
30.
17 Hansard , House of Lords (Vol. 59, cols. 608-10, 20 September 1841).
31.
18 See, e.g., the correspondence between Governors Findley and Hay, from 17 July 1830, in PRO: CO267/105. Findley had issued a Proclamation warning against participation in the trade on 5 July 1830.
20 Hansard, House of Commons, (Vol. 15, cols 1014-37, 9 May 1826). The trade in slaves to Mauritius increased after its sugar received the same preferential duty as that from the West Indies. When Britain acquired Mauritius from the French in 1815, there were ca. 100,000 slaves there and in the Cape of Good Hope. M. Craton , Sinews of Empire ( London , 1974), pp. 47, 274. British ‘functionaries’ in Cuba and Brazil were also slave owners, according to the Anti-Slavery Reporter (3 November 1841), p. 237.
34.
21 The quotations are from Sir George Stephen, Anti-Slavery Recollections ( London , 1854), pp. 101-108.
35.
22 Adam Jones , A History of the Galinhas Country 1730-1890 ( Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner , 1983), p. 42.
36.
23 Report from the Select Committee, 1842, PP XII, op. cit., p. 207.
37.
24 Ibid., pp. 318-9.
38.
25 See Christopher Fyfe, A History of Sierra Leone (Oxford, 1962). Most contemporary accounts of the colony mention the trade.
39.
26 Anti-Slavery Reporter (20 April 1842), p. 61, claimed that the reason for this was ‘a wish to screen certain individuals from exposure’.
40.
27 Forster to Stanley (28 September 1841), PRO: CO267/170 (quoted in Metcalfe, op. cit., p. 280).
41.
28 Anti-Slavery Reporter (2 November 1842), p. 180.
42.
29 Calculated from the attendance figures in Report from the Select Committee, 1842, PP XII, op. cit.
43.
30 The Royal Navy’s patrol vessels were easily ‘outsailed’ by many of the slaving clippers. Dr Madden had cited as evidence that the Black Jack, which had been the slaver Henriquetta, had captured nine of the eleven slavers taken between 1830 and 1832. (Report from the Select Committee, ibid., p. 253; C. Lloyd, The Navy and the Slave Trade (London, 1949), pp. 71-2.)
44.
31 Undated, barely legible note by ‘S’ following a letter addressed to Stanley from Dodson, Pollock and Follett, dated 18 December 1842, PRO: CO267/177; Hansard (Col. 1004, 29 September 1841).
45.
32 Anti-Slavery Reporter (2 November 1842), p. 173.
46.
See also R. R. Madden , The Slave Trade and Slavery ( London , 1843).
47.
33 Lloyd, The Navy and the Slave Trade, op. cit., pp. 97-8. Josephus Asiegbu in his Slavery and the Politics of Liberation (London, Longmans, 1969), p. 119, alleges that Lord Aberdeen ‘encouraged Senor Buron to sue Denman for trespass the seizure of goods and 4,000 slaves worth £180,000... and other claims... total £370,000. It was calculated that 1,000 tons of goods had been landed at the ‘factories’ which Denman had burned down on the Gallinas. (An Exposition of the African Slave Trade From the Year 1840 to 1850, Inclusive ([Philadelphia 1851], New York, 1971), p. 14. On the Gallinas, see Adam Jones, From Slaves to Palm Kernels (Wiesbaden, 1983). For extracts from Denman’s report on the Gallinas, see Her Majesty’s Commissioners to Viscount Palmerston, Sierra Leone (31 December 1840), <http:home.planet.nl/%7Epbdavis/SL1840.htm>.
48.
34 BFASS , Proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Convention (London, 1841), pp. 515-518 ;
49.
House of Commons Journal (13 April 1840, 5 October 1841, 9 June 1843);
50.
House of Lords Journal (8 June 1841, 18 July 1842);
51.
Hansard, House of Lords (20 September 1841), cols. 1114-1128 .
52.
35 Anti-Slavery Reporter (26 July 1843), p. 140 .
53.
36 Anti-Slavery Reporter (6 September 1843), p. 164 . The Reporter carried verbatim transcripts of the debate .
54.
37 Blanco, described variously as being of Malaga or Cadiz, ‘maintained a flourishing establishment at the mouth of the Gallinas River...he kept a stock of more than a thousand slaves in ten or a dozen barracoons on a series of marshy islands’. He employed seventeen Europeans, lived in great splendour and is said to have retired a millionaire. (Daniel Mannix and Malcolm Cowley, Black Cargoes (New York, 1962), pp. 231-2). Blanco used British merchants as his bankers: see e.g., Lord Glenelg to Governor Campbell of Sierra Leone (25 October 1835), PRO: CO 267/139; 1842 PP XI, p. 631; Reverend E. Maer sent copies to the Colonial Office of bills drawn by Blanco on ‘Fres Zulueta y Comp’, Liverpool, to the order of G. Salgado, another slave trader (Maer to Lord Glenelg (14 July 1836), PRO: CO267/139). See also Theophilus Conneau, A Slaver’s Log Book ([1854], London, 1977), p. 244; and Thomas, Slave Trade op. cit., pp.689-91. On Conneau, see also Adam Jones, ‘Theophile Conneau at Galinhas’, History in Africa (Vol. 8, 1981), pp. 89-105.
55.
38 Evidence of Captain Hill, 1842 PP XI, pp. 447-9; 503-6. Hill had been on an almost four-year tour of duty with the West Africa Squadron. On Martinez, see David A. Ross , ‘The career of Domingo Martinez in the Bight of Benin 1833-64’ , Journal of African History (Vol. 6, no. 1, 1965), pp. 79-90 .
56.
39 Evidence of Macaulay, ibid., pp. 322-3. The Courts of Mixed Commission consisted of a British Commissioner and one from the slaver’s proven nationality.
57.
40 1842 PP XI, pp. 679-84.
58.
41 This is well over £3 million at today’s prices. There was no palm oil trade from the Gallinas; I have found no evidence of Zulueta being involved in the palm oil trade.
44 This history is compiled from material in the select committee report, the reports of the trial and the papers relating to the condemnation of the Augusta.
62.
45 Slave Vessels Arrived in Transatlantic Ports, PP XLIX, p. 622. Captain Conneau, an agent of Blanco’s, referred to the ‘the Russian Captain - a Spaniard and my intimate friend’ (Conneau, Slaver’s Log Book, op. cit., p. 270). For details of the Russian ownership, see PP 1841 (I), XXX no. 51, report from Sierra Leone (13 May 1839). See also Slave Trade Papers, PP 1839, Class D Correspondence no. 6, Report by Lt J. L. R. Hill (13 February 1839), pp. 77-81.
63.
46 Consul to H.B. Swabey, Admiralty Registrar (21 May 1849), PRO: HCA18/172/48.
64.
47 David R. Murray, Odious Commerce (Cambridge, 1980), p. 47. Zachary Macaulay was appointed secretary of the Sierra Leone Co. as well as the African Institute.
65.
48 The BFASS report of Zulueta’s trial includes a list of the Augusta’s cargo: 45 per cent was cotton goods and 25 per cent was guns and gunpowder. The resident slavers were Jose Perez, Angel Ximenex and Jose Alvarez (Thomas, Slave Trade, op. cit., p. 804).
66.
49 Transcript of judgement, dated 28 May 1842, PRO: PCAP1/70, no. 79.
67.
50 1842 PP XI, p. 505.
68.
51 Dodson, Pollock & Follett to Lord Stanley (18 February 1842), PRO: CO267/177. Sir William Webb Follett was appointed solicitor general 1834-5, 1841 and again in 1844; from 1841 to 1844 he served as attorney general.
69.
52 R.(?) Rothery, the King’s Proctor, to Lords Commissioners of the Treasury (15 February 1842), PRO: HCA37/15.
70.
53 G. Maule to G. Stephen (15 March 1842), PRO: TS2/43, f. 165. George Maule was assistant solicitor general 1817-18; solicitor general 1819-1851.
71.
54 For Jennings’s appeal, see Ecclesiastical & Admiralty Appeals, Reports and Orders, Privy Council 1842-4 and ‘Jennings against the Queen (Brig Augusta)’ (28 December 1842), No.79, PRO: PCAP1/79) G. Stephen to R. Rothery (10, 11 and 12 April 1843), PRO: HCA37/15. See also BFASS, The Trial of Pedro de Zulueta (London, 1844), pp. iii-iv.
72.
55 H. R. Reynolds, assistant solicitor to J. Stephen of the Colonial Office (29 September 1843), PRO: TS2/44, f. 121; C. E. Trevelyan to Viscount Canning (17 July 1843), PRO: TS28/99, 297, no. 14989.
73.
56 John Bull (30 October 1843), p. 688.
74.
57 The summary of the trial is compiled from the transcripts published by the BFASS and Zulueta, as well as from the Old Bailey Sessional Papers for the trial.
75.
58 Fitzroy Kelly was the best that money could buy: an MP, he became solicitor general then attorney general and retired as Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
76.
59 BFASS, Trial, op. cit., pp. 49-50. This argument is used today regarding the shipment of arms to certain countries.
77.
60 The Court had to be adjourned till Monday, 30 October. The court officers were sworn ‘to keep the jury in a convenient and private place’. The jury members, mainly tradesmen, were taken to attend chapel; then they ‘returned to the London Coffee-house, then proceeded by omnibus to the Brunswick Tavern, Black-wall, by a circuitous route... where at three o’clock they dined, and returned to the London Coffee-house by half-past six to tea.’ (PRO: CRIM6/4, case 391; Illustrated London News (4 November 1843); Morning Chronicle (31 October 1843). As these proceedings are mentioned in such detail in a newspaper, were they somewhat unusual? Who had paid?
78.
61 I have not been able to discover if Mr Justice Maule, judge in the Court of Common Pleas and member of the judicial committee of the Privy Council and G. Maule of the Treasury were related.
79.
62 BFASS, Trial, op. cit., pp. 63-9.
80.
63 The Times (31 October 1843);
81.
Illustrated London News (4 November 1843);
82.
Morning Chronicle (31 October 1843);
83.
Annual Register1843, pp. 395-398 .
84.
64 Patriot (9 November, 30 November 1843).
85.
65 Zulueta’s relationship with the agent appears to have gone beyond the confines of insurance. When Zulueta, as owner of the Arrogante, had appointed Martinez in Cuba to act as his agent in selling the vessel, the power of attorney had been witnessed by the same man, Sam Birkley. (Slave Trade Correspondence, Class B, 1839, 1840 PP XLVI, pp. 465-7.)
86.
66 Thomas, Slave Trade, op. cit., pp. 41, 280, 676.
87.
67 Slave Trade Correspondence Class B 1839, op. cit., pp. 465-7.
88.
68 Prospectus of the Peninsular Steam Navigation Co, 1834. In 1866, Zulueta resigned his directorship because of frequent absences in Spain (Tamini, Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese-Brazilian Directory (London, 1889).)
89.
69 I am grateful for Pauline Cass of the Liverpool Record Office for this information. There is no information on Zulueta & Co, or Brodie Willcox at the Office.
90.
70 1842 PP XI, op. cit., p. 679; Kent’s Original London Directory (1827); Merchant Shippers of London (1868); Pigot & Slater’s Commercial Directory (London, 1843); Boyd Cable, A Hundred Years of the P & O (London, 1937).
91.
71 Baring Brothers were also bankers to Caetano Jose Nozolini, the main slave dealer at Bissau (Thomas, op. cit., pp. 683-4). Martinez’ agent at the Gallinas was Jose Alvarez.
92.
72 It is not known whether Arthur was related to the Anderson brothers, who were the slave traders ensconced on Bunce Island in the estuary of the Sierra Leone River at least around 1784-1807. Thomas, Slave Trade, op. cit., pp. 340, 555.
93.
73 Moore’s Reports of Cases Heard by the Privy Council, vol. II, 1837-38. This is the same Follett whose legal advice had been sought by Stanley regarding the Madden report.
94.
74 Cable, A Hundred Years of the P & O, op. cit. On Anderson and Willcox’s political and commercial connections with Spain and Portugal, see also David Divine, These Splendid Ships (London, 1960).
95.
75 Morning Herald (22 September 1843), p. 7.
96.
76 There is some discussion of these issues in Howard Temperley, British Anti-Slavery (London, 1972); Seymour Drescher, Capitalism and Antislavery (Basingstoke, 1986); Eltis, ‘The British contribution...’, op. cit.
97.
77 Pedro de Zulueta, op. cit., pp. xxiii, liii, lxv, lxvi, lxviii, lxx.
98.
78 Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (London, 1964), p. 172.
99.
79 Calculated from B. R. Mitchell, Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cambridge, 1963), table 11; B.K. Drake, ‘Liverpool’s African commerce before and after abolition’, MA Thesis (Liverpool, The Author, 1974), p. 124; see also Drake’s ‘Continuity and flexibility in Liverpool’s trade with Africa and the Caribbean’, Business History (1976), pp. 85-97. ‘Legitimate’ trade usually refers to palm oil, much of which was grown and transported by slaves. For an example of slavery at the turn of the twentieth century, see Henry W. Nevinson, A Modern Slavery (Harper, Background Books, 1963).
