Sugar nippers not shackles

(Originally posted 26 October 2020)

Content warning: this article discusses the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

For Black History Month 2020, we explored four stories related to British slave ownership in the early 1800s. This article looks at our collections. It shows how we can reveal hidden stories from objects that at first glance seem to be unrelated.

The story of the British slave trade and slave ownership is part of every town and city in Britain. Local history museums can tell the story too. Most local museums do not have the shackles or whips used to subjugate those who were enslaved. However, we can show how the products and profits of slavery reached every home in Britain, including Wakefield.

It can be surprising how many different and diverse stories museum objects can tell.

The Triangle of Trade

Captain Francis Ingram of Wakefield founded Wakefield's first bank. He used his profits from trading in enslaved people to start it.

In the 1770s and 1780s Ingram was a major figure in the slave trade. He was involved in 105 voyages, which stole close to 34,000 slaves from Africa.

It is estimated that Ingram's ships delivered just over 29,000 people to the Americas. This means that around 5,000 died on these journeys across the Atlantic Ocean.

An old printed and handwritten banknote from 1800

Banknote of the Wakefield Bank, Ingram, Kennett and Ingram, 1800

Ingram’s business was part of the so called Triangle of Trade. British merchants like Ingram sailed from ports such as Liverpool. They traded goods for enslaved Black people from African merchants in ports along the West African coast.

The enslaved people were tightly packed into ships. These travelled across the Atlantic to the British colonies in North and South America and the Caribbean. Many enslaved men, women and children died in the crossings. The ships were unsanitary and overcrowded.

The industrial revolution in Britain in the 1700s and 1800s relied on the exploitation of enslaved people in the British colonies. The merchants traded the enslaved people to plantation owners. They were made to grow and harvest crops. The merchants received these goods in return.

The key products were cotton, coffee, rum, sugar, and tobacco. These goods were then shipped back to Europe. They made their way to wardrobes, kitchens, dining tables and pockets in Britain.

Some would then complete the cycle and be shipped to Africa to be traded for more enslaved workers.

The products of slavery

The use of slave labour enabled mass production. This meant that expensive products became more affordable to families with less money. These goods began to appear in homes across the country.

The household objects associated with these luxury products eventually arrived in our museum collections.

An ornate coffee pot, which looks like a tall thin teapot

Coffee pot, Newhall, 1820s

Sugar arrived at a household in a cone or ‘loaf’. It was broken up with a sugar axe or hammer. Nippers like these were used to cut off smaller chunks.