Slave descendants' site launched
Updated on 03 April 2008
Descendants of slaves of the British Empire will be able to delve into their history thanks to the launch of a huge online register.
Social history website Ancestry.co.uk will list details of more than 2.7 million slaves and 280,000 slave owners from 17 former colonial dependencies including Antigua, Barbados, Jamaica and Tobago.
The records date from 1812 to 1834 and can be searched by name, birth year and gender of the enslaved or by the name of the slave holder.
There are more than half a million Britons of black Caribbean origin, most being descended from slaves, according to the report.
Famous modern-day Britons who have ancestors descended from the islands include supermodel Naomi Campbell (Jamaican descent), Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and England and Chelsea footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips (Grenadian descent), and British talk show host Trisha Goddard (Dominican descent).
Ancestry.co.uk spokesman Simon Harper said: "The slave registers are a vital resource and are for many the only record of their ancestor's existence.
"Now online for the first time, the registers are hugely important to historians, academics and anyone with an interest in tracing slave ancestors or discovering more about this period in history.
"Delving into slave history has never been more accessible with the combination of DNA testing and historical records now online.
"Looking into our past can be moving, exhilarating and sometimes shocking, but in discovering where we come from we inevitably learn more about who we are."
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
