This project aims to bring Australia into the global history of slavery by exploring the legacies of British slavery in Australia.

Engraving of Josiah Wedgwood’s slave medallion, with the words “Am I not a man and a brother”.
Erasmus Darwin’s ‘The Botanic Garden, A Poem in Two Parts. Part 1 Containing the economy of vegetation Part II The loves of the plants with philosophical notes’ (1798).

In August 1833 British Parliament abolished slavery in the British Caribbean, Mauritius and the Cape when it passed the ‘Act for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Colonies, for promoting the industry of manumitted slaves, and for compensating the persons hitherto entitled to the services of such slaves.’ While this momentous event has continued to be celebrated, it is often forgotten that many of those who benefited from slavery had ties to other parts of the British Empire, including the settler colonies of Australia, Canada and South Africa.

The first stage of this research program was the Western Australian Legacies of British Slavery project, which examined the movement of capital, people and culture from slave-owning Britain to Western Australia.

This research program has expanded to examine links between the abolition of slavery after 1833 and the subsequent accelerated expansion of colonial invasion and pastoral occupation of Australia.

Events

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