Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1872 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
3 sheets, with photographs
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Gubbins was an Africana book collector, antiquarian and writer. He donated his Africana collection of old books, pictures and manuscripts to the University of the Witwatersrand. A disastrous fire in 1931 at the University's central block destroyed thousands of books, and a large part of Gubbins' Africana collection. Gubbins and his patrons, including the South African Institute of Race Relations, started on a new collection which eventually became the 'Gubbins Library' and which he donated to the William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand, and the Johannesburg's Africana Museum. The University conferred an honorary D.Litt. on him.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The pages were part of the John Gubbins Africana collection, and were transferred to the Historical Papers Research Archive by the William Cullen Library.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Three sheets containing six pages with the entries 343-372 of names, particulars and photos of people, entitled "List of liberated Africans, landed from the H.M. Ship 'Columbine' ".
The ship had landed at Port Victoria, Seychelles on the 15 January 1872. The people listed were registered on the 25 January 1872.
Historical background:
These ship registers of the HMS 'Columbine' relate to the aftermath of the abolotion of the slave trade by Great Britain in the 19th Century. The 'liberated Africans' were slaves who were recaptured from the slave trade, as part of the British Royal Navy's suppression activities throughout the 19th Century. After capturing a slave ship, the naval crew took the ship to specified ports to condemn the ship as a lawful prize. State officials took the slaves from the ship, registered them, and then apprenticed them to local employers or institutions for up to fourteen years (this is what the column entitled 'how disposed of' refers to, with the list of names of locals in the Seychelles who hired the Africans as apprentices). British imperial officials thought that the Seychelles was a good location for liberated Africans to serve apprenticeships because they believed that the climate suited them. The HMS 'Columbine' was actively involved in detaining slave dhows particularly in 1871-1872, according to the Naval database. (Information provided by Jake Christopher Richards, Cambridge, UK, August 2018)
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Blue sheets with ink handwriting. Photographs seem to be fading. Folio item.
Finding aids
No inventory available