Slavery Remembrance Day

Liverpool and the slave trade

Detail from 'Boarding a Slaver' by L Burke

A brief history of the city's connections

Liverpool was a major port for the slave trade. Many local merchants and their ships were involved in slavery from 1700 until its abolition in 1807. As a result much of the city's wealth in the 18th century came from the trade. The personal and civic wealth gained from slaving cemented the foundations for the port's future growth.

Slave ships were often built or repaired in Liverpool. Nearly one and a half million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic in Liverpool ships.

• The 'Liverpool Merchant' was the first recorded slave ship to sail from Liverpool. She set sail on 3 October 1699 and arrived in Barbados on 18 September 1700 with a cargo of 220 enslaved Africans. Part owner Sir Thomas Johnson is known as the 'founder of modern Liverpool'.
• By 1795 Liverpool controlled over 80% of the British and over 40% of the entire European slave trade.
• By 1750 Liverpool overtook Bristol and London in the slave trade and the import of sugar and rum.
• Over 5,000 slaving voyages started from Liverpool.
  Former Liverpool slave ship captain John Newton wrote the famous hymn 'Amazing Grace'. After his career at sea Newton became a reverend and an anti-slavery campaigner.
• At least 25 of Liverpool's lord mayors, holding office for a total of 35 years between 1700 and 1820, were closely involved in the slave trade.

Find out more about Liverpool's involvement in the slave trade on this website.

A formal motion of apology

On 9 December 1999 Liverpool City Council passed a formal motion apologising for the City's part in the slave trade. It was unanimously agreed that Liverpool acknowledges its responsibility for its involvement in three centuries of the slave trade. The City Council has made an unreserved apology for Liverpool's involvement and the continual effect of slavery on Liverpool's Black communities.