Robert Bostock (slave trader, born 1743) explained

Robert Bostock (1743, Tarvin – 24 September 1793, Liverpool) was an English slave trader, who was born in Tarvin, Cheshire.[1] He was held to be a "very considerable African merchant". His letterbooks for the period 1779-92 have been found to be very useful for historians researching the slave trade of that era. They provide information about his prolific career.[2] Which is ironic as his family tree now includes two mixed race Aboriginal branches.[3]

Early life

Robert was the son of Peter Bostock, a joiner living in Tarvin and his wife Elizabeth, née Blease, who died shortly after Robert's birth. His father remarried two years later. However his second wife, Ann, also died, in 1748.[1]

Slave trader in Liverpool

Robert married Elizabeth Wilkinson in Tarvin in 1770 and by 1772 was living in Liverpool. He joined the congregation of St Anne's Church, Liverpool, occupying three pews.[1] Charles Wilkinson was related to him and worked as his agent in London before settling on the Rio Pongo. Richard Bostock maintained correspondence with him there.[4]

Slave trading voyages

The information here is based on "Robert Bostock of Liverpool and the British Slave Trade on the Upper Guinea Coast, 1769-93" by Denise Jones.[5] She uses the Voyage ids from the Slave Voyages database which she has collated with Bostock's Letterbook. The one exception from 1792 does not appear on the database.

List of authors!Voyage id!Ship!Date left!Date return!Captain!Owner!No. of enslaved Africans!Location in Africa!Location in Americas!Notes
  1. 91581
Little Ben30 Aug 17691 June 1770Robert BostockRobert BostockThomas Ratcliffe79 of 80*Cape MountDominica (DB)This was a smaller ship, a sloop of 40 tons, later replaced by a larger ship
  1. 91582
Little Ben14 Aug 17707 June 1771Robert Bostock Robert BostockThomas RatcliffeWilliam Mason64 of 82*Windward CoastDominica (DB)
  1. 91783
Little Ben17 July 1771 17 April 1772 Thomas MellingRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeWilliam Mason65 of 83*Windward CoastDominica (DB)
  1. 91801
Townside23 Aug 17714 Sept 1772Robert BostockRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeWilliam Mason197 of 230*Windward CoastDominica (DB)
  1. 91896
Little Ben7 July 177226 August 1773Thomas MellingRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeThomas Harvey106 of 124*Windward CoastSouth Carolina (DB)
  1. 91802
Townside23 Aug 1771John BarberRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeWilliam MasonShipwrecked near Cape Mount
  1. 91972
Burrowes9 May 17731 April 1774Robert BostockRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeThomas HarveyWilliam Mason220 of 270*Windward CoastBarbados (DB)
  1. 91897
Little Ben30 Sept 1773Thomas MellingRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeThomas Harvey0 of 230*Windward CoastSouth Carolina (DB)Shipwrecked off coast of Africa
  1. 92517
Burrowes29 May 177426 May 1775Robert WithingtonRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeThomas HarveyWilliam Mason168 of 206*Windward CoastBarbados (DB)
  1. 91973
Bostock20 April 177627 Jan 1777James BriggsRobert BostockThomas RatcliffeRob GreenWilliam KirkeRob OliphantJames Briggs328 of 359*BonnySaint Croix (DB)
  1. 92591
Matty and Betty4 June 1777John HewanRobert BostockThomas Ratcliffe328 of 359*Africa (unspecified)Martinique (DB)Ship captured by an American privateer off Barbadoes. The enslaved Africans on board and taken to Martinique. Insurance deemed fraudulent by a London jury, 29 May 1780.[6]
  1. 92478
Little Ben26 October 1778Robert BostockRobert BostockThomas Ratcliffe195 of 210*Africa (unspecified)Jamaica (DB)This was another larger ship, a brig named Little Ben, (100 tons)
  1. 80704
23 June 178312 June 1784John SpurittRobert BostockThomas FoxcroftWilliam RiceJames WelshFelix DoranGeorge Welch175 of 189*Cape MountSt Kitts (DB)
  1. 80587
13 Aug October 17834 Nov 1784Robert BostockRobert BostockThomas FoxcroftWilliam RiceAretas WartonFelix DoranGeorge WelchJames Welch307*Cape MountAntigua (DB)In Antigua he sold the enslaved Africans for £35-£45 a head. He then bought a cargo of molasses and tobacco with which he returned to Liverpool. The profit of the trip was £9,635 9s 7d, of which he received £360 14s 3d.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Robert Bostock (1743 - 1793) . www.bostock.net . Bill Bostock . 3 August 2021.
  2. Web site: Morgan . Kenneth . Slave Trade Records from Liverpool, 1754-1792 - Description . British Online Archives . 3 August 2021 . en.
  3. Web site: Bostocks of Chester and Australia . www.bostock.net . Bill Bostock . 4 August 2021.
  4. Lovejoy . Paul E. . Richardson . David . African Agency and the Liverpool Slave Trade . Liverpool and Transatlantic Slavery . 2007 . Liverpool University Press . en.
  5. Jones . Denise . Lovejoy . Paul . Schwarz . Suzanne . Robert Bostock of Liverpool and the British Slave Trade on the Upper Guinea Coast, 1769-93 . Slavery, Abolition and the Transition to Colonisation in Sierra Leone . 2014 . 69–88 . Africa World Press.
  6. Book: John Weskett. A Complete Digest of the Theory, Laws, and Practice of Insurance . 1781 . Frys, Couchman, & Collier . 233–237 . John Weskett .
  7. Book: Lloyd . Christopher . The Navy and the Slave Trade: The Suppression of the African Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century . 12 November 2012 . Routledge . 978-1-136-25786-5 . en.
  8. https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/82002/variables Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Jemmy voyage #82002.

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