Barbados Slavery

Barbados   Slavery

Emancipation occurred in Barbados in 1834. For two decades before that time, special slave censuses, which are held at The National Archives (Kew, England), were kept. Slaves are identified by given name under their masters. If you can identify your ancestor's master, this source will prove of tremendous value to your research. Ancestry.com digitized these records:


 * Slave Registers of Former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 ($)

Legacies of British Slave-ownership identifies the names of slaveowners in Barbados at the time of emancipation. (free database)

For an article demonstrating how to successfully use this source, and extend your pedigree back into the slavery period, see:


 * Ramsey, Andrea Butler. "Documenting the Life of a Barbados Slave Ancestor," Journal of the Barbados Museum &amp; Historical Society, Vol. 54 (Dec. 2008):207-211..

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database Internet site contains references to 35,000 slave voyages, including over 67,000 Africans aboard slave ships, using name, age, gender, origin, and place of embarkation. The database documents the slave trade between Africa, Europe, Brazil, the Caribbean, and the United States.