[Carib] Financial Times Story - Rothschild and Freshfields founders linked to slavery

[Kevin Laurence]

Dear List,

This weekend's edition of the Financial Times leads with a story that
suggests Nathan Mayer Rothschild
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Mayer_Rothschild) and James William
Freshfield (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_William_Freshfield) both
benefited financially from slavery. Previously neither man was thought
to
have benefited from slavery.

Perhaps the most interesting news for Caribbean researchers is the
following:

"Nick Draper, a University College London academic who examined the
documents, which will now form the basis of a comprehensive British
slavery database at UCL, said the records would hopefully promote a
better
understanding of the significance of slavery in Britain."

The article, a video and a slideshow can all be accessed from
http://www.ft.com/slavery

Kevin Laurence
London, UK

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

[Spring]

Kevin

Thanks for drawing our attention to this important new project at UCL
(University College London)

I have in store an indenture that Mr Freshfield's firm drew up as late
as 1830 for an agreement that settled on the widow of a plantation
owner the enjoyment of an estate in St Catherine, Jamaica for the rest
of her life. As trustees, they also agreed to pay her a living
allowance during any trips she made overseas (e.g. to England).. An
inventory of the estate included the number of slaves living on it.

Peter Moll
Tortola, BVI