Slavery and Liverpool

[taffy]

Thanks, Taffy. That site says,

"Thomas Clarke was a grocer living at 12, Cable Street, and had a warehouse at No. 4, Marshall Street in Liverpool."

If Thomas Clarke was a grocer could he have been a slave trader as well? I am not sure, although of course many merchants of the day had interests in a number of enterprises.

All the best

Chris

Yes. Thomas Clarke is listed in the 1807 list of slave trading merchants. Like other Liverpool merchants he simply speculated in slave trading alongside his other business interests. Also many people in Liverpool bought shares in each slave ship's voyage. Typically these were 1/16 ths or 1/12 ths shares in the voyage. So like others, Thomas Clarke probably sold on part of the risk in his slaving trips to other speculators