Documents in our collection

So far as we have been able to discover, the only document directly relevant to the history of enslavement is SANT/DEE/5/1,  a deed between Jacob Graham of Jamaica, and John and Mary Heward of Brampton, Cumberland, for the sale of enslaved people in Jamaica in 1815. A transcription of this unpleasant document can be seen here, with thanks to Lynn Farquharson for undertaking this task. Mary Heward was herself of partly African heritage, being Jacob Graham's daughter by an enslaved woman, Statira.

The document came to light thanks to a search by archivists at Northumberland Archives for relevant items in the collections lodged there. There is information about this and other documents they found on their LEARN site. Jacob Graham came originally from Cumberland and had close Newcastle links. You can read a PhD thesis by Christer Petley (Warwick University) about him here.