Collection Artefacts
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The Slave Trade
Britain, along with Portugal was one of the most successful slave-trading countries. These two countries together were responsible for about 70% of all Africans transported to the Americas. To begin with Britain’s involvement was mainly trading African produce rather than using slaves but this changed with the introduction of slaves to the Americas. Britain’s greatest
Slavery Timeline
1562 – John Hawkins leaves Britain on first British slave trading voyage 1607 – First successful British settlement in America 1623 – First British settlement in the Caribbean 1640 – Dutch planters from Brazil introduce sugar cane and African slaves to Barbados 1672 – Royal African Company formed to regulate the English slave trade. Monopoly
Trade, Empire and Politics
At the time of Hassell’s paintings of Egham, the country was witnessing global expansion of power and influence with the establishment of the British Empire growing steadily since the 16th century. By 1783, it had colonies in North America and the West Indies, trading posts in India and naval bases in the Mediterranean. The 19th
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Poverty and the Poor Law
Under the ‘Old Poor Law’ Before 1834 the system for looking after the poor, sick and those who could not support themselves was based on Acts of Parliament dating from the late Tudor period. These were consolidated by the 1601 Act for the Relief of the Poor the objective of which was to maintain order
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Poverty and the Parish
At the time Hassell’s paintings were made, concepts of ‘poverty’ and being ‘poor’ lay at the knotty intersection of Christian morality, economic principles and theories of population. Historically, it was acknowledged that the poor were simply part of the social order and poverty should be greeted with charity, however in the period around the turn
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Enclosure and the Changing Landscape
County Surveys carried out at this time were not objective descriptions, most had a political motive. Their purpose was to provide information to aid the cause of agricultural improvement. They undoubtedly exaggerated the deleterious aspects of the landscape and the way it was kept in order to encourage the enclosure of land. The process of
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