The Liberal Democrat county councillor, who lives near Castle Cary, says it has been important for him to research his ancestry, which he can trace back to 1304. One of his ancestors based in Bristol, Isaac Hobhouse, ceased trading slaves in 1765. Cllr Hobhouse explained to Jo Phillips how the so-called triangular slave trade worked. | "It's my family's history - there's nothing I can do about it. But, by 1808, we were MPs and we voted for the abolition." | | Henry Hobhouse |
"You filled your ship with iron goods, beads, or other things you wanted to trade in Africa. "You travelled down to the west coast of Africa. You then sold your metal goods with normally Arabs or the families of the people they were selling into slavery. "You then transported your slaves across the Atlantic Ocean to Jamaica or America where they were sold at auction. "You then filled your ship with either sugar (if you were selling to Jamaica), cotton or tobacco, and you transported that back to England." On the subject of his ancestors' connections with the slave trade, he said: "It's my family's history - there's nothing I can do about it. "But, by 1808, we [Henry Hobhouse's ancestors] were MPs and we voted for the abolition. "We voted in 1838 for the removal of slavery across the English Empire."
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