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

Claudia Jones

Claudia Jones

Born Trinidad. Moved to New York where she became a Communist. Caught up in the McCarthy trials she was imprisoned and then extradited to Britain in December 1955. Became a community organiser afte...

Person, Community / Clubs, Journalism / Publishing, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Caribbean Islands, USA

2 memorials
Altab Ali

Altab Ali

24-year-old Bengali murdered in Adler Street, junction Whitechapel High Street, in a racist attack by three teenage boys. Altab Ali was on his way home to Wapping from a small factory just off Bric...

Person, Race Issues, Tragedy, Pakistan

1 memorial
Sir Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake

Sea captain, explorer and pirate. Born in Crowndale, near Tavistock, Devon. He spent his formative years in the house of his cousin Sir John Hawkins and by 1565 was voyaging to Guinea and the Spani...

Person, Exploring, Race Issues, Seriously Famous, Panama

6 memorials
Fanny Kemble

Fanny Kemble

Actress. Born Newman Street. 1830 a witness at the death of Huskisson. 1832 travelled to America with her father and wrote about her experiences there. Married an American who inherited a fortune i...

Person, Literature, Race Issues, Theatre, USA

1 memorial
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (1st Baronet)

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton (1st Baronet)

MP, brewer, slave abolitionist and social reformer. Born Essex. Entered the Brick Lane brewery Truman, Hanbury & Company in 1808, eventually taking on sole ownership. 1807 married Hannah Gurney...

Person, Commerce, Food & Drink, Race Issues, Social Welfare

3 memorials

Previously viewed

Edith Nesbit Society

Edith Nesbit Society

Founded by Nicholas Reed. It aims to celebrate the life and work of the author and her friends, by means of talks, publications and visits to relevant places.

Group, Community / Clubs

1 memorial
Daphne Doreen Abbs

Daphne Doreen Abbs

Daphne Doreen Abbs was born as Daphne Doreen Miles on 25 September 1930. She was the youngest of the three children of Gilbert Redvers Miles (1900-1958) and Lily Rose Miles née Lines (1901-1974). H...

Person, Community / Clubs

1 memorial
Dame Sybil Thorndike

Dame Sybil Thorndike

Born Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. Actor. George Bernard Shaw wrote his play Saint Joan with her in mind. Created Dame of the British Empire in 1931. She was married to the actor Sir Lewis Casson. Di...

Person, Cinema, Theatre

3 memorials
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Lutheran pastor and theologian. 1933 - 35 he was a pastor at two German speaking London churches: German Evangelical Church - Sydenham and the German Reformed Church of St Paul's - Whitechapel. Bo...

Person, Execution, Religion, Germany

4 memorials
Sir Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren

Born East Knoyle, Wiltshire, died London.  Designer of 54 London churches, of which 13 were destroyed in the Blitz. Part of one of his churches, St Antholin, has ended up in an unexpected location...

Person, Architecture, Race Issues, Seriously Famous

38 memorials