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.

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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...

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Bronze Woman

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

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Buxton Memorial Fountain

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

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Gilt of Cain - Slave trade

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

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Holy Trinity Clapham - Clapham Sect

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

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Other Subjects

Sam King, MBE

Sam King, MBE

Born in Jamaica, he served in the R.A.F. during the second world war. Along with other Jamaican airmen, he was ordered to leave the service at the end of the war. He returned to Britain as part of ...

Person, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Jamaica

1 memorial
Elizabeth Jesser Reid

Elizabeth Jesser Reid

Founder of Bedford College, anti-slavery activist and philanthropist. Her Wikipedia page is very informative. Elizabeth Jesser Sturch was born on 15 December 1789 in the St Clement Danes district...

Person, Education, Gender Issues, Philanthropy, Race Issues

1 memorial
Moncure Daniel Conway

Moncure Daniel Conway

Born Stafford County, Virginia, USA. Social reformer and ethical preacher. He abandoned his Methodist ministry because of what he saw as its repression of free thought and became a Unitarian. He ca...

Person, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Social Welfare, France, USA

3 memorials
Mrs Catherine Smithies

Mrs Catherine Smithies

Born as Catherine Bywater. Founded the Band of Mercy movement in Britain. She also campaigned against slavery but we can find no details. Her home, Earlham Grove House, built c.1865, has also been...

Person, Animals, Philanthropy, Race Issues, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

One of the world's most famous civil rights activists, born Michael King Jr. A Baptist minister, he visited London in December 1964 on his way to Oslo to collect his Nobel Peace Prize. He stayed at...

Person, Race Issues, Religion, Seriously Famous, Tragedy, USA

4 memorials

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J. H. Coggs

J. H. Coggs

Resident of Willesden who volunteered and died in the Anglo Boer War, 1899-1900.

Person, Armed Forces, South Africa

War dead, Other war
1 memorial
Leonard Huxley

Leonard Huxley

Writer. His works include biographies of his father Thomas Henry Huxley and Charles Darwin. Father of Aldous and Julian Huxley, the unidentified child in the photograph is presumably one of his sons.

Person, History, Literature

1 memorial
Arthur Waley

Arthur Waley

Poet, translator and orientalist. He never actually visited China nor Japan.

Person, Poetry, China/Hong Kong, Japan

1 memorial
Herbert Beerbohm Tree

Herbert Beerbohm Tree

Actor and theatre manager. Born at 2 Pembridge Villas. Max Beerbohm was his half-brother and cousin. Founded Her Majesty's Theatre in 1897 and ran it until his death. Founded the Royal Academy of D...

Person, Theatre

4 memorials