29 July 2014

Irish slave owners were compensated


Rico's friend Kema forwards this Irish Central article by Patrick Counihan:
A Limerick based historian has revealed how prominent Irish families cashed in on the abolishment of slavery. Liam Hogan is currently working on his first book, a study of the historical relationship between Limerick, Ireland and slavery.
In an article for the website TheJournal.ie, he explains how over a hundred Irish families were financially rewarded when the British government finally abolished slavery in most of its colonies in 1834. Hogan writes that the British paid slave owners over thirty million dollars in compensation for the loss of their ‘property.’
Anti-slavery advocate Daniel O’Connell protested against this compensation payment and requested that the names of those receiving this money be made public, according to Hogan. He adds that the Parliamentary return (1837-8) lists the basic information about those who received compensation.
A new online database now reveals that nearly a hundred different individuals, either born or based in Ireland, benefited directly from this slave compensation.
Peter and William Diggs La Touche, private bankers in Dublin, received a payment of nearly £7,000 (approximately a million dollars at today's values) for their four hundred slaves on two plantations in Jamaica.
Howe Peter Browne, the 2nd Marquis of Sligo, of Westport House in County Mayo, inherited slave plantations in Jamaica in 1809 from his father. The report says he submitted a claim for 286 slaves and was awarded almost £5,525 ($745,000 today).
Hogan’s fascinating article includes a full list of all the Irish families who received compensation when slavery was finally abolished.
Rico says we could've done that in 1861 and saved a lot of money and blood...

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