Samuel Shaw (1718–1781) was an English

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions of ...

. He was responsible for at least 119 slave voyages between 1750 and 1778.

Early life

Shaw was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in England. His father, also called Samuel Shaw, was a

mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

Slave trade

Shaw was a member of the

African Company of Merchants The African Company of Merchants or Company of Merchants Trading to Africa was a British chartered company operating from 1752 to 1821 in the Gold Coast area of modern Ghana, engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. Background The company was estab ...

. Prior to 1750 the British

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

held a monopoly of rights for slave trading in West Africa with a business called the

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the west coast of Africa. It was led by the Duke of York, who was the brother of ...

. An act of parliament ended the monopoly, the act was established by King George II and entitled "An Act for the extending and improving the trade to Africa, 1750, for the port of Liverpool". Shaw kidnapped over half of his enslaved people from the

Bight of Biafra The Bight of Biafra (known as the Bight of Bonny in Nigeria) is a bight off the West African coast, in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Guinea. Geography The Bight of Biafra, or Mafra (named after the town Mafra in southern Portugal), betwe ...

. The locality in West Africa has now been renamed to the Bight of Bonny, at the time it was commonly used by Liverpool slave traders. He took part in the Chesapeake slave trade sending at least 5 slave ships to the area.

References

Sources

* * English slave traders 1718 births Date of birth missing 1781 deaths Place of death missing Date of death missing People from Liverpool 18th-century merchants {{England-business-bio-stub