Miscellaneous books [1826-1891]

Description: Series of volumes compiled by the Liberated African Department in Freetown. These include a diverse range of information about the activities of the Department in different parts of the colony of Sierra Leone. This collection includes the Registers of Liberated Africans (lists of Africans liberated from slave ships by the British Royal Navy between 1808 and 1848), Letter Books (miscellaneous correspondence between 1820 and 1847) kept by the Liberated African Department, and accounts and pay lists. These volumes were created as part of the operation of the Liberated African Department. The Liberated African Department was created by the British government to organise the re-settlement and ‘disposal’ of former slaves known as ‘Recaptives’ or Liberated Africans in Sierra Leone. This was an administrative agency created to deal with the people brought to Freetown on board slave vessels seized by Royal Navy patrols. The captured slave ships were adjudicated by a Vice Admiralty Court or Courts of Mixed Commission, and the African men, women and children identified as Liberated Africans were set ashore and accommodated at different locations. The Liberated African Department kept detailed records of the ‘disposal’ and treatment of individuals following their adjudication by the courts.Extent of original material: 14 volumes.