An account book of William Davenport & Co. relating to voyages made by the ships Ann, Liverpool, Hero, Swift, and Hector, trading between Liverpool, Old Calabar, Sierra Leone, Dominica, Antigua, and Kingston, Jamaica. A huge variety of different articles shipped out on these voyages are recorded, among them clothing, fabrics, beads, foodstuffs, tools, cutlery, wine, guns and gunpowder. These items presumably were intended for sale both in Africa and the West Indies. Also listed are various sales of slaves in Jamaica, Dominica, and throughout the West Indies. The volume is written in two directions with the text beginning at one cover then turned over and beginning again (tête-bêche style) and contains entries written in several hands; with original paper labels titled in manuscript pasted to the center of each cover. Pages 1-11, 24-50, 52-77 record accounts for the Hector, Liverpool, Hero and Swift (with pages 12-23 sometime excised and p. 51 omitted); then reversed and beginning at the other end of the volume, the remaining 93 pages record accounts for the Ann and cutter Bee, with 10 blank pages between the two sections. William Davenport (1725-1797) was a Liverpool merchant and British slave trader. From the late 1740s till the early 1790s he invested regularly in the African slave trade and was a partner in slaving ventures with other leading merchant Liverpool families. Besides the slave trade, Davenport also traded in beads, ivory, sugar, coffee and other commodities. HM 82854. The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Davenport, William, 1725-1797 William Davenport & Co Sailing ships--Great Britain--History--18th century Slave trade--Africa--History--18th century Slave trade--England--Liverpool Slave trade--Great Britain--History--18th century Slave trade--Jamaica--History--18th century Trading companies--England--History--18th century Voyages and travels Great Britain--History--18th century Jamaica--History--18th century Leeward Islands (West Indies)--History--18th century Liverpool (England)--Commerce--18th century Account books Great Britain 18th century. (aat)
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