{"id":195653,"date":"2021-10-01T14:56:20","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T13:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/?page_id=195653"},"modified":"2021-10-08T14:58:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T13:58:42","slug":"looking-at-fife-scotland-and-slavery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/libraries-archives\/local-and-family-history\/looking-at-fife-scotland-and-slavery\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking at Fife, Scotland and Slavery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This is a collection of resources and weblinks that relate to Scotland and Fife&#8217;s involvement in slavery, empire and colonialism. Scotland has been described as having \u2018collective amnesia\u2019 about our relationship with transatlantic slavery. Until recently there was widespread lack of awareness of how our country and our ancestors participated. There&#8217;s much to read here and much more to discover &#8211; remember to check the origins and reliability of any source you find. We will add to this when we find new material and if you have any suggestions to add, please get in touch with <a href=\"mailto:LocalStudies.Kirkcaldy@onfife.com\">LocalStudies.Kirkcaldy@onfife.com<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/KY0094082619-300x190.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-195664\" width=\"360\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fife and slavery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Pictured: Greenmount, Burntisland was built by Robert Kirke, one of the last slave owners in Scotland. The house was damaged by fire and no longer stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Fife slave owners feature in David Alston\u2019s research pages&nbsp;<strong><em>Slaves &amp; Highlanders<\/em>,&nbsp;<\/strong>Scots in Surinam: James Balfour of <strong>Fordell<\/strong> \u2013<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spanglefish.com\/slavesandhighlanders\/index.asp?pageid=607712\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Slaves and Highlanders | James Balfour (spanglefish.com)<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>and Robert Kirke of <strong>Burntisland<\/strong> \u2013&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spanglefish.com\/slavesandhighlanders\/index.asp?pageid=607903\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Slaves and Highlanders | Robert Kirke (spanglefish.com)<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Petronella Hendrick<\/strong>, a formerly enslaved person born in Suriname on the Kirke family\u2019s plantation has been written about by Burntisland Heritage Trust. She was brought to Burntisland to serve the Kirke family at Greenmount \u2013&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/burntisland.net\/hendrick-petronella.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Burntisland, Fife \u2013 Petronella Hendrick (1829-1917)<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li>The case of the&nbsp;<strong>David Spens<\/strong>, an enslaved person brought from the West Indies to Fife by David Dalrymple from <strong>Methil<\/strong> is told by The National Records of Scotland. David Spens was baptised in a church in <strong>Wemyss<\/strong> and later held in custody at Dysart jail \u2013&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrscotland.gov.uk\/research\/learning\/slavery\/dalrymple-v-spens-and-henderson-1769-70\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dalrymple v Spens and Henderson, 1769-70 | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Scotland and slavery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucl.ac.uk\/lbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Legacies of British Slavery (ucl.ac.uk)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 UCL\u2019s Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership traces the impact of slave-ownership on the formation of modern Britain. Search the database to find out about individuals\u2019 and families\u2019 involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade. Browse the Estates to explore the ownership of plantations and estates in the British Caribbean. Browse the Legacies to discover the commercial, cultural, historical, imperial, physical and political gains made from slave-ownership.<\/li><li>An extensive collection of resources are available at the National Library of Scotland, detailed here \u2013\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nls.uk\/collections\/topics\/slavery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Slavery | National Library of Scotland (nls.uk)<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li>The National Records of Scotland (NRS) has a guide to records relating to aspects of the transatlantic slave trade. It also mentions some other Scottish archives relating to Scotland&#8217;s involvement in the trade and its abolition &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrscotland.gov.uk\/research\/guides\/slavery-and-the-slave-trade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Slavery and the Slave Trade | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li>T. Devine (ed.), Recovering Scotland\u2019s Slavery Past: The Caribbean Connection (2015) \u2013\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/capitadiscovery.co.uk\/fife\/items\/712006?resultsUri=https%3A%2F%2Fcapitadiscovery.co.uk%2Ffife%2Fitems%3Fquery%3Ddevine%2Bslavery%26target%3Dcatalogue#availability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">request through our library catalogue<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong>E<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/empiremuseum.scot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>mpire Museum \u2013 Scottish museum of empire, slavery, colonialism and migration<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013  aims to tell history on a meaningful and engaging platform through curiosity, education and a reflection on our past. This space will represent the realities of Scotland\u2019s role in empire, colonialism, slavery and migration.<\/li><li>R<a href=\"https:\/\/www.runaways.gla.ac.uk\/database\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>unaway Slaves in Britain :: Database (gla.ac.uk)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Glasgow University\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Runaway Slaves in Eighteenth-Century Britain<\/em>\u00a0project has created a searchable database of well over eight hundred newspaper advertisements placed by masters and owners seeking the capture and return of enslaved and bound people who had escaped.<\/li><li>The film\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.1745film.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1745 An Untold Story of Slavery (1745film.com)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0highlights a forgotten part of Scotland\u2019s history: at the time of the Jacobite uprising of 1745, Scotland&#8217;s economy was in large part founded on the booming colonial slave trade. Written by Morayo Akand\u00e9 and Starring Moyo Akand\u00e9 \u2013\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/267991581\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1745 \u2013 An Untold Story of Slavery on Vimeo<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk\/media\/2326\/aye-it-was-aabody-digital.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>A<\/strong><\/a><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk\/media\/2326\/aye-it-was-aabody-digital.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ye, It Wis Aabody \u2013 A Story of Scotland\u2019s Role in the Slave Trade<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a community heritage project undertaken by Birse Community Trust that explores Scotland\u2019s links with chattel slavery in the Caribbean, through the experience of one rural community and their school.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"has-text-align-right wp-block-heading\">Image: Frederick Douglass<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/8\/8b\/Frederick_Douglass_as_a_younger_man.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fife and the Abolitionist movement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frederick_Douglass\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Frederick Douglass<\/a><\/strong>, abolitionist, orator, writer and social reformer, spoke on two occasions in <strong>Kirkcaldy<\/strong> as he travelled the country working as &#8220;Scotland\u2019s Anti-slavery agent&#8221;, delivering hundreds of public lectures during his antislavery tours in 1846 and 1847 &#8211; see&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bulldozia.com\/douglass-in-scotland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Frederick Douglass in Scotland (bulldozia.com)<\/a> <\/strong><\/li><li>You can request <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/capitadiscovery.co.uk\/fife\/items\/dda-68\/ODN0000785031?query=frederick+douglass&amp;resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3Dfrederick%2Bdouglass%26target%3Dcatalogue&amp;target=catalogue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave<\/a><\/strong>  from our <a href=\"https:\/\/capitadiscovery.co.uk\/fife\/items\/dda-68\/ODN0000785031?query=frederick+douglass&amp;resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3Dfrederick%2Bdouglass%26target%3Dcatalogue&amp;target=catalogue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>catalogue<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Henry_Box_Brown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Henry Box Brown<\/a><\/strong>, abolitionist lecturer and performer who escaped from slavery in Virginia in 1849 by arranging to have himself&nbsp;mailed in a wooden crate, brought his one man show to <strong>Kirkcaldy<\/strong> in August 1852, his only known appearance in Scotland.  You can read a report about it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldscotland.com\/life_style\/arts_ents\/16416692.fringe-show-discovers-slavery-escaping-hero-performed-show-scotland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a> <\/li><li>You can request Brown&#8217;s biography The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/capitadiscovery.co.uk\/fife\/items\/707237?query=henry+box+brown&amp;resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3Dhenry%2Bbox%2Bbrown%26target%3Dcatalogue&amp;target=catalogue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Narrative of the life of Henry Box Brown<\/a><\/strong> from our<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/Narrative of the life of Henry Box Brown by Brown, Henry Box, 1815 or 1816- author (capitadiscovery.co.uk)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">catalogue<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li><li>Our <strong>Newspaper Archive<\/strong> holds a number of indexed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/libraries-archives\/local-and-family-history\/newspaper-search\/?quick-search=anti-slavery&amp;ref_no=&amp;archive_title=&amp;start_year=&amp;end_year=&amp;source=&amp;stored_at=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">items in local papers relating to the<strong> Ant-Slavery Society<\/strong><\/a> between 1846 and 1848.  You can view these historical local newspapers on microfilm in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/kirkcaldy-galleries-local-family-history-room\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Local &amp; Family History Room<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/venues\/kirkcaldy-galleries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kirkcaldy Galleries<\/a><strong>.<\/strong>  We also hold some copies of Anti-Slavery material such as posters and correspondence that may be of interest.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Image: Henry Box Brown<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-portrait-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/narrativeofhenry00brow_0004-1-502x535.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-195798\" width=\"238\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/m1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-195857\" width=\"546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/m1.jpg 1017w, https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/m1-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/m1-768x464.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/m1-400x242.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1017px) 100vw, 1017px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fife and the economic legacies of empire, colonialism and slavery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>During the 18th century, Fife&#8217;s linen producers in the east and north specialised in weaving <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Osnaburg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">osnaburg<\/a><\/strong> which was sold for export to British colonies.  In the Atlantic plantation complex, prior to the abolition of slavery, osnaburg was the fabric most often used for <strong>slave garments<\/strong>.  <\/li><li>So much was produced by weavers in the village of <strong>Dairsiemuir<\/strong> near <strong>Cupar<\/strong> that it was nicknamed Osnaburg &#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dsl.ac.uk\/entry\/snd\/osnaburg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dsl.ac.uk\/entry\/snd\/osnaburg<\/a><\/strong>.  The nickname is recorded on Ordinance Survey maps &#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.nls.uk\/geo\/find\/marker\/#zoom=15&amp;lat=56.3437&amp;lon=-2.9488&amp;f=0&amp;z=1&amp;marker=56.3437,-2.9488&amp;from=1550&amp;to=1970\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">maps.nls.uk<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; and in the Statistical Account of Scotland.     <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Black History Month: Brown Linen (Captioned)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ILDAGQ7uOq8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a collection of resources and weblinks that relate to Scotland and Fife&#8217;s involvement in slavery, empire and colonialism. Scotland has been described as having \u2018collective amnesia\u2019 about our relationship with transatlantic slavery. Until recently there was widespread lack of awareness of how our country and our ancestors participated. There&#8217;s much to read here [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":195857,"parent":712,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195653\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onfife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}