Archibald Dalzel ( – ) was a British colonial administrator and slave trader who served as the

governor of the Gold Coast This is a list of colonial administrators in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) from the start of English presence in 1621 until Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. In addition to the Gold Coast Colony, the governor of the Gold Coast ...

from 1792 to 1802. Between 1804 and 1808, he owned two

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting Slavery, slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea ( ...

s. Dalzel died in 1818.

Life

Dalzel was born in

Kirkliston Kirkliston is a village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council area limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the ...

, Scotland and he trained to be a doctor in Edinburgh. After a spell in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

he resolved to take a job in Africa as he saw it as a way to make money. He went to Africa as a surgeon in 1763 but started trading slaves to add to his salary.James A. Rawley, ‘Dalzel , Archibald (1740–1818)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 21 Dec 2014
/ref> He served four years as governor of Whydah (now

Ouidah Ouidah (English: ; French: ) or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch), and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on t ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

). He observed that the people at Whydah "pay a kind of veneration to a particular species of large snake, which is very gentle." Dalzal returned to England in 1770. Appointed by the Committee of Merchants that was in charge of the Gold Coast at the time, he served as governor in two periods: 31 March 1792 - 16 December 1798, and 28 April 1800 - 30 September 1802. Whilst he was there his daughter Elizabeth Dickson was born.J. R. Oldfield, ‘Dickson , Elizabeth (c.1793–1862)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 21 Dec 2014
/ref> In 1793 he published ''The history of Dahomy, an inland kingdom of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

; comp. from authentic memoirs; with an introduction and notes'' where he argued that the raiding of Dahomean villages for slaves was saving them from the greater evil of being human sacrifices.

Shipowner

In 1775 he purchased the schooner ''Nancy'', of 60 tons ( bm). On 19 September 1775, he sailed to Africa. At some point he purchased ''Hannah'' to act as a

ship's tender A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat or ship used to service or support other boats or ships. This is generally done by transporting people or supplies to and from shore or another ship. A second and distinctly different ...

for ''Nancy''. As of February 2023 it is not clear about what happened to either vessel. In 1804 Dalzel purchased the

. She made two slave-trading voyages while under his ownership. In all she delivered 486 captives to the West Indies. After the passage of the

Slave Trade Act 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807 ( 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 1. c. 36), or the Abolition of Slave Trade Act 1807, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not automatica ...

, which ended British participation in the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

, Dalzel sold her. In 1805, Dalzel purchased a second slave ship, . She made one complete voyage. She was wrecked in 1808 on her second slave-trading voyage; the crew and enslaved captives were saved.

Family

Son of William Dalziel (1705–1751) a carpenter from Kirkliston and Alice Linn. Brother of Andrew Dalzel (1742–1806), Professor of Greek, Honorary Librarian at Edinburgh University.

Life

Shipowner

Family

References

Further reading