Irish planters

A summary of material in the Pubic Records Office of Northen Ireland (PRONI) is available on line at Ulster and Slavery.

These include:

D717/1–27: Blair family papers (1785–90)

D4053/2 is a booklet entitled Songs of a Soujourn in British Guiana by William McCalmont, describing tropical phenomena, the peculiar superstitions of African slaves and including poetry and written accounts relating to African Slaves. This was published in Cork in 1833.

D2707/A/2/11/17 has the following letter from John Brennan, on the 'Lady Nelson', Demerara, to Shannon, about the voyage he is now making.

'... I sailed from Liverpool on Sunday, April the 26th, bound to the coast of Africa for slaves. We visited many different parts of Africa until we got our cargo on board, which consisted of three hundred negro slaves and a few tons of ivory, and arrived at this port on the fifth day of December. This is a bad market for slaves at present; we only sold one hundred since we came here, and the captain means to go to Kingston wih the rest, but I do not like to go in the ship, for she is very leaky and kept both pumps going during our passage from Africa to this port. ... this [is] a very unhealthy place, not one day comes but there is more or less goes ashore to be interred. There is a ship valled the 'Venerable' belonging to Liverpool lying very convenient to our ship, and in the course of five days lost fifteen men. This disorder sometimes takes them off in four hours. As yet ... we only lost two men and is called [sic] a healthy ship. ...'

The 'Lady Nelson' carried 310 enslaved Africans for Demerara but was condemned for unseaworthiness.