Event    From 25/3/1807  To 1/8/1834

Abolition of slavery

The British abolition of slavery came in two parts: first the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act became law on 25 March 1807, which left slavery itself still permitted until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 which caused all slaves in the British Empire to be emancipated on 1 August 1834. The slaves in India and Ceylon were not freed until Britain took over from the East India Company in 1843.

Compensation was paid, but to the owners, not the slaves. Meticulous records were kept and have been analysed at Legacies of British Slave-ownership.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Abolition of slavery

Commemorated ati

Aboliton of slavery - SE1

{The statue stands at one end of a long composite stone slab inlaid with a de...

Read More

Bronze Woman

This was the first statue of a black woman to be on permanent display anywher...

Read More

Buxton Memorial Fountain

Due to strong shadows it was only on our fourth visit that we managed to take...

Read More

Gilt of Cain - Slave trade

This sculpture, 'Gilt of Cain', was unveiled by Bishop Tutu in commemoration ...

Read More

Holy Trinity Clapham - Clapham Sect

The damage on this plaque is the result of WW2 bombs.

Read More

Show all 10

Other Subjects

Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I

Daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Born Greenwich Palace.  Succeeded her half-sister Queen Mary I. Reigned: 1553 - 1603.   Never married, no children, so followed by James I. Elizabeth I...

Person, Race Issues, Royalty, Seriously Famous

26 memorials
Charles Grant

Charles Grant

Anti-slavery campaigner.  Born Scotland.  Made a fortune working for the British East India Company of which he became Chairman.  The death of two of his children brought about a religious conversi...

Person, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Religion, Scotland

1 memorial
King George I

King George I

Born Hanover. When the last of Queen Anne's 17 children died without issue (no one could accuse her of not trying) there were lots of Catholic potential claimants, but Britain wanted a Protestant h...

Person, Race Issues, Royalty, Seriously Famous

6 memorials
Henry Sylvester Williams

Henry Sylvester Williams

Anti-slavery and civil rights campaigner.  Born Trinidad.  After the USA he arrived in London in 1896 to study.  Qualified in law.  Elected in 1906 for Church Street Ward, the first black councillo...

Person, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Caribbean Islands

1 memorial
Henry Peter, Lord Brougham

Henry Peter, Lord Brougham

Born in Edinburgh. Died in Cannes, France, where, despite the plaque in Grafton Street, he apparently spent much of his last 30 years, indeed he seems to have effectively created Cannes. As a young...

Person, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, France

2 memorials