Slave Trade—Thomas Dwyer | Manuscript journal of the slave ship the Snow Fox, 1773

The Property of the Downside Abbey General Trust

Slave Trade—Dwyer, Thomas

A Jornal of An Intended Voige By Gods Permition on Bord the good Snow Fox Samuel Lang Comander Now Bound from the Port of Liverpool to Africa and the W. Indies So god send us a good Voige

ship's log with daily entries providing a record of a voyage engaged in the infamous "triangular trade", recording co-ordinates, weather conditions, shipboard employment and remarks, from the ship's initial voyage from Britain to the Bight of Biafra, taking on slaves, the "Middle Passage" across the Atlantic to Barbados with a brief landfall in St Thomas to take on provisions, and return journey to Britain, three entries per page, the final pages with lists of provisions and cargo (e.g. "Provitions for the Slaves", "Ivrey [ivory] Receaved on Bd the Bark fox", "Slaves Receaved from on Bord the Bager") and an incomplete record of "Mortallyty of Slaves of Bord the Fox from the Camrones to the West Indies", 90 pages, folio, contemporary marbled wrappers, 12 March to 16 December 1773

A RECORD FROM THE HEIGHT OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE. The venture of the Snow Fox was financed by the slave trade merchant William Davenport. She left Liverpool on 12 March 1773 for the Cameroons, making rendezvous en route with a larger ship, the Badger. She reached the Cameroon coast on 27 May. The following days were spent preparing the ship for its human cargo ("...Sunday June the 6t Imployd Dischargeing the Cargo [...] Cleaning the Mens Room and watering [...] Receaved on Bord 21 men & 20 menboy Slaves..."), preparing the hold, building a barrier to separate men and women, cleaning, preparing food for the journey, and exchanging cargo with the Badger. The ship got under way on 19 June. The Middle Passage took three months, with a brief stop on the Island of St Thomas (22-28 July), and Dwyer's journal contains scattered clues to the horrendous experiences of the enslaved people cramped in the hold ("...Buryed a women Slave No. 10...", 28 July). Finally, on 29 September, he "saw the Island of Barbados" and came into harbour in Carlisle Bay the following day, noting that he was immediately employed "Cleaning the Slaves & other Necessary Jobbs". 152 men, women, and children survived the crossing to be sold in Barbados, the majority ("106 men slaves 9 boys 31 women and girls") being shipped onto a Spanish sloop which was presumably destined for a Spanish colony.