Scots in the West Indies in the colonial period: a view from the archives

No abstract available

John Lamont of Benmore: a Highland planter who died ‘in harness’ in Trinidad

This article traces the rise of John Lamont, a Highland planter in nineteenth-century Trinidad. The island was subsumed into the British Empire in 1802, the third wave of colonization in the British West Indies and just thirty-two years before slavery was abolished. Many Scots travelled in search of wealth and this article reveals how one West India fortune was accumulated and repatriated to Scotland. John Lamont travelled from Argyll in the early 1800s, eventually becoming part of the Trinidad's plantocracy class and recipient of a major sum of compensation on the emancipation of slavery in 1834. Unlike many other Scots in the British West Indies, however, Lamont remained in situ in the post-emancipation period and was thus an exception to the sojourning mindset identified in previous studies. Lamont's status as an ‘every-day planter’ undoubtedly contributed to his major fortune which, despite his residency in the colonies, was dispersed in the lower Highlands of Scotland amongst his paternal family, the Lamonts of Knockdow. The article also surveys modern representations of John Lamont: a Highland planter who, in his own words, achieved his wish to die ‘in harness’ in Trinidad

Addressing the absences in Teaching Scotland’s slavery past

No abstract available

Scots in the West Indies in the colonial period: a view from the archives

No abstract available

The Scots Kirk of Colonial Kingston, Jamaica

No abstract available

White Paper on National Service

President Clinton unveiled his vision of National Service in a speech at Rutgers University on March 1, 1993. It was a watershed moment in the resurgence of volunteerism and community service. This resurgence began about a decade ago, to highlight the need to appreciate our nation\u27s and our communities\u27 most valuable resource - its people. People from diverse agencies and organizations coalesced to ensure our nation\u27s future by teaching the service or volunteer ethic to our youth. The intended purpose was to provide opportunities for young people to contribute to the development of their communities and give appreciation and understanding the issues and challenges confronting our nation

Ludovic McLellan Mann and the Cambusnethan bog body

This article considers the circumstances, aftermath and legacy of the discovery of a bog body near Cambusnethan in North Lanarkshire in 1932. The body of a man and a unique jacket were assessed by Ludovic McLellan Mann soon thereafter and removed to Glasgow Museums where they remain today. The body was popularly perceived to be a Scottish Covenanter although there is no scientific or historical evidence of this, and Mann himself was vague. In an attempt to provide some clarity, this article traces the interplay between archaeological and historical evidence, as well as contemporary popular memory around the find. There is an enduring belief the body was a Covenanter, exemplified by a cairn in Greenhead Moss Community Nature Park in Lanarkshire which has displayed the story since 1997. In the last 25 years, there have been repatriation claims for the remains and the story was raised in the Scottish Parliament. Thus, Mann's archaeological practice continues to shape opinion today although in this case his work was exemplary. Whilst the ‘Covenanter in the bog’ was not Mann's myth, this article reveals how the story evolved and why it remains in the popular consciousness across Scotland

Proslavery collaborations between British outport and metropole: the rise of the Glasgow-West India interest, 1775-1838

This article provides the first systematic exploration of pro-slavery collaborations between British outport and metropole from the American War of Independence in 1775 to the abolition of plantation slavery in 1834–1838. Examination of a group of individuals commercially involved with the Caribbean trades including absentee planters, merchants, merchant-proprietors and returned sojourners – described here as the ‘Glasgow-West India interest’ – as well as the institutions to which they belonged, provides insights around three key themes. Firstly, what was the relative strength of pro-slavery groups and individuals in Glasgow from 1775 to 1838? Secondly, to what extent, and in what ways, did pro-slavery groups and individuals in Glasgow interact with other outport organisations and especially the London Society of West India Planters and Merchants, the most powerful pro-slavery lobbying group in the British Atlantic world? Thirdly, since pro-slavery groups could not prevent either abolition or emancipation, was lobbying of any benefit to relevant individuals? This article contends that the influence of the Glasgow-West India interest increased after 1778, that this group became a cornerstone of the British pro-slavery cause up to emancipation in 1834, and in turn some accumulated nationally significant fortunes in the abolition eras

Centring transatlantic slavery in Scottish historiography

The historiography of Scotland's connections with transatlantic slavery across the British Empire has flourished in the last 20 years, promoting wider public discussion and civic recognition. Nevertheless, the view that historians of Scotland omitted slavery from Scottish historiography remains part of popular discourse. This article adds nuance by considering the absences and eventual centring of slavery in Scottish historiography. In the 1960s, it was argued by historians that foreign trade—and by extension Atlantic slavery—had a limited effect on the economic development of 18th-century Scotland. However, studies of the Atlantic trades and merchant capital undermined that orthodoxy in the 1970s, although works of that era that addressed Scotland's Atlantic economy tended to acknowledge slavery only in tokenistic fashion, if at all. Nevertheless, whilst slavery was not centred in these works, they established the view that Atlantic commerce and merchant capital were central to Scottish economic development. In the last 25 years, slavery has been centred in Scottish historiography and earlier works have taken on new significance. Studies after 1997 have revealed the involvement of Scots with the slave trade in Scotland and across the Atlantic world, patterns of Scottish slave-ownership in the Caribbean, the repatriation of slavery-derived wealth, the effects of West India fortunes and investments. Scottish historiography lagged behind the comparative body of work for England, although it is now generally accepted that Atlantic commerce and slavery affected Scottish economic development in a more substantial way. Historians of Scotland have led the way in transforming understandings of Scotland's Atlantic history in general, and chattel slavery in particular, and these ideas are increasingly part of popular consciousness

Henry Dundas: a ‘great delayer’ of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade

Henry Dundas, first viscount Melville (1742–1811), lord advocate in Scotland, MP for Edinburgh and Midlothian, first lord of the admiralty, home secretary and the first secretary of state for war, was one of the most powerful politicians in the eighteenth-century British parliament. His involvement in the gradual abolition of the slave trade after 1792 was amongst the most controversial episodes of his career. His role has attracted much interest in the last few years, although there are two irreconcilable schools of thought amongst historians. This article reassesses Dundas's role in the gradual abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. His contributions in the houses of parliament between 1791 and 1807 are examined and situated in the appropriate imperial context. Memoirs and published pamphlets reveal how contemporaries viewed Dundas's activities and motives at the time and since. His parliamentary activities are compared with new insights from his personal correspondence as well as public and private communications from West India societies, merchants and planters. By overlaying parliamentary events with commercial networks, Henry Dundas's collaboration with the West India interest is revealed, and how this operated and was perceived at the time. This article—the first detailed study of its type—thus illuminates Henry Dundas's role as a great delayer of the abolition of the slave trade