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

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Composer. Born 15 Theobalds Road, of a mixed race couple, his father being a Sierra Leonean Creole, and brought up in Croydon. His surname was Taylor and he was given the names Samuel Coleridge in ...

Person, Music / songs, Race Issues

3 memorials
Sir Henry Morton Stanley

Sir Henry Morton Stanley

Explorer and journalist, born as John Rowlands at Denbigh, Wales. Illegitimate and brought up in a workhouse, he sailed to America as a cabin boy in 1859. He befriended a trader called Henry Hope S...

Person, Exploring, Journalism / Publishing, Race Issues, Seriously Famous, Africa, USA, Wales

1 memorial
Dr John Lettsom

Dr John Lettsom

Physician, philanthropist, abolitionist and entomologist. Born British Virgin Islands into a Quaker family. Aged 6 was sent to England to be educated. Came to London in 1766 to train at St Thomas' ...

Person, Medicine, Philanthropy, Race Issues, Virgin Islands

2 memorials
Rhaune Laslett-O'Brien

Rhaune Laslett-O'Brien

Born as Freda Pulverness in Stepney but lived most of her life in and around West London.  After WW2 the housing conditions, the poverty and the racial mix in Notting Hill brought out her skills as...

Person, Community / Clubs, Race Issues, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Leslie Hutchinson

Leslie Hutchinson

Singer and pianist who performed under the name of 'Hutch'. Born Leslie Arthur Julien Hutchinson in Gouyave, Grenada.  He moved to New York with the intention of studying medicine, but started sing...

Person, Music / songs, Race Issues, Caribbean Islands, USA

1 memorial

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J. Howes

J. Howes

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
Wimpey

Wimpey

EC3, Aldgate High Street

OK, a bit Henry Moore-lite but we like this piece although the setting rather lets it down.  But we love the Christmas-decorated pub in t...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Mark Morton Parker

Mark Morton Parker

Non-British, killed by the Bali bomb.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
F. E. Stock

F. E. Stock

Killed in WW1.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Pietro Enrione
War dead, WW1
1 memorial