# How many of you have slave owners in your family history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Reasonably serious discussion\ **Created:** [15 July 2015 12:28 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594 "2015-07-15T12:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/furball/32/64_2.png) [@Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Furball)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:28 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/1 "2015-07-15T12:28:51Z")
I bet almost everyone. Here’s a search page from University College London, which has been developing a database from copious UK government records of compensation payments made to British owners of slaves in the West Indies. ## [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/) ---
**Author:** ![Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/spudders/32/15_2.png) [@Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Spudders)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:31 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/2 "2015-07-15T12:31:24Z")
Add the link then mc spastic! Or do we have to Google it ourselves! Your linking is worse than Tokyo’s! ---
**Author:** ![lifeintheslowlane](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/lifeintheslowlane/32/690_2.png) [@lifeintheslowlane](https://www.sotonians.com/u/lifeintheslowlane)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:31 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/3 "2015-07-15T12:31:50Z")
Well I’m proud to say my family name remains unsullied. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/furball/32/64_2.png) [@Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Furball)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:34 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/4 "2015-07-15T12:34:06Z")
Have you searched both your family name and your mother’s maiden name? ---
**Author:** ![Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/spudders/32/15_2.png) [@Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Spudders)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:34 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/5 "2015-07-15T12:34:34Z")
My name comes up with no results as well! ---
**Author:** ![Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/furball/32/64_2.png) [@Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Furball)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:35 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/6 "2015-07-15T12:35:17Z")
Damn. So it’s just me then? ---
**Author:** ![Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/spudders/32/15_2.png) [@Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Spudders)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:37 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/7 "2015-07-15T12:37:14Z")
Ah good point, mum’s maiden name comes up with a long list! ---
**Author:** ![Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/furball/32/64_2.png) [@Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Furball)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:40 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/8 "2015-07-15T12:40:11Z")
Same with me. My surname is clear but my mother’s maiden name has two recorded slave pay-offs. ---
**Author:** ![CB-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/cb-saint/32/95251_2.png) [@CB-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/u/CB-Saint)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:44 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/9 "2015-07-15T12:44:38Z")
I got one hit for £25, but there are two distinct branches of my family name so 50:50 chance Having said that from the little family history research I have done, I come from a long line of serfs, peasants and agricultural workers with the odd one or two bettering themselves to become domestic servants. ---
**Author:** ![pap](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/pap/32/74795_2.png) [@pap](https://www.sotonians.com/u/pap)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:45 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/10 "2015-07-15T12:45:01Z")
I was thinking about this the other day when the subject came up in relation to Ben Affleck, who found out that part of his family were slave owners and tried to suppress the broadcast of that information. > **[Ben Affleck admits embarrassment led him to try to hide slave-owning ancestor](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/22/ben-affleck-embarrassment-hide-slave-owning-ancestor)** > > Hollywood star says he regrets lobbying makers of the US television show Finding Your Roots I think you really have to be into the sins of the father for it to be important. I think social context plays an important role too. Although there were people that railed against the practice from day one, it was legitimised by the interests that were coining it in. Simon Schama refers to it as the original sin of the British Empire. ---
**Author:** ![Tokyo-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/tokyo-saint/32/10_2.png) [@Tokyo-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Tokyo-Saint)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:50 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/11 "2015-07-15T12:50:48Z")
Loads, not just my surname but forename as well. ---
**Author:** ![Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/furball/32/64_2.png) [@Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Furball)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:51 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/12 "2015-07-15T12:51:13Z")
I don’t think that matters much. Owning slaves was once about as widespread as, say, owning shares before the 1929 Wall Street crash. Everyone was buying ‘shares’ of slaves. The remarkable thing is, somewhat unlike the US, the UK government compensation scheme, introduced with abolition, recorded in the minutest detail who owned whom, or part of whom. ---
**Author:** ![Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/furball/32/64_2.png) [@Furball](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Furball)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:52 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/13 "2015-07-15T12:52:22Z")
You won’t get both. You need to link it to your family tree if you want to go into detail. ---
**Author:** ![Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/spudders/32/15_2.png) [@Spudders](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Spudders)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 12:57 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/14 "2015-07-15T12:57:38Z")
It’s an interesting topic and one that I’ve reflected on in the past, usually when watching films that involve slavery and racism. I struggle with the whole issue of racism and slavery on the basis that whilst it clearly still exists and was infinitely worse decades ago, to me it all just seems absurd. I just don’t really understand how one group of people managed to get themselves into a position of thinking they were somehow better than another group of people, based on the colour of their skin? I like to think that had I been around in those days of slavery I’d have been too embarrassed to be involved in anything like that. I wonder during those times, how many people didn’t agree with what was happening, but were just too afraid to speak up? ---
**Author:** ![CB-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/cb-saint/32/95251_2.png) [@CB-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/u/CB-Saint)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 13:01 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/15 "2015-07-15T13:01:26Z")
> Originally posted by @Furball > > > Originally posted by @CB-Saint > > > > I got one hit for £25, but there are two distinct branches of my family name so 50:50 chance > > > > Having said that from the little family history research I have done, I come from a long line of serfs, peasants and agricultural workers with the odd one or two bettering themselves to become domestic servants. > > Hang on, I’ve just tried my maternal granmother’s maiden name. Not feeling so smug now. Its a common name but one chap got £35,000. Jesus. That is a serious amount of cash in the early 1800s ---
**Author:** ![Tokyo-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/tokyo-saint/32/10_2.png) [@Tokyo-Saint](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Tokyo-Saint)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 13:01 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/16 "2015-07-15T13:01:40Z")
I just put my surname in the search but, the top 3 or 5 hits where not just my surname but foreame as well. Don’t mess with me or I will slave you up! ---
**Author:** ![Bearsy](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/bearsy/32/6_2.png) [@Bearsy](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Bearsy)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 13:42 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/17 "2015-07-15T13:42:27Z")
> Originally posted by @Spudders > > I like to think that had I been around in those days of slavery I’d have been too embarrassed to be involved in anything like that. > > I wonder during those times, how many people didn’t agree with what was happening, but were just too afraid to speak up? yeah me too definitely. I wouldn’t have sat in my ancestral home collecting money + drinking absinthe, I would probably have gone to Carribea and picked the cotton for myself. Or, I would have given all my slaves a big pay rise + company car. That is what I would have done. I also think that if I was around in 1484 or whatever I would have known for promoting gay rights, and if I was around in caveman times I would have been an advocate for women’s equality, and against inhumane treatment of dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![lifeintheslowlane](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/lifeintheslowlane/32/690_2.png) [@lifeintheslowlane](https://www.sotonians.com/u/lifeintheslowlane)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 13:51 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/18 "2015-07-15T13:51:52Z")
I have…we are blameless innocents abroad :innocent: ---
**Author:** ![Halo-Stickman](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/halo-stickman/32/23_2.png) [@Halo-Stickman](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Halo-Stickman)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 14:01 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/19 "2015-07-15T14:01:26Z")
Trouble is, by the time you trace all your ancestors back to the 1760s - say ten generations worth - you’ve got so many different surnames in your family tree (assuming your ancestors haven’t made a habit of marrying their bothers and sisters) that you’re almost bound to find some that come up on that database search. ---
**Author:** ![Fatso](https://www.sotonians.com/user_avatar/www.sotonians.com/fatso/32/18_2.png) [@Fatso](https://www.sotonians.com/u/Fatso)\ **Post date:** [15 July 2015 14:57 UTC](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594/20 "2015-07-15T14:57:58Z")
> Originally posted by @Furball > > Damn. So it’s just me then? You make me sick. [Next page](https://www.sotonians.com/t/how-many-of-you-have-slave-owners-in-your-family-history/2594.md?page=2)