We are a small group of researchers operating under the umbrella of Devon Development Education at Exeter Community Centre. We are interested in pursuing the historic links between Devon and transatlantic slavery.

In November 2015 the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project at University College, London (UCL LBS) held one of their outreach workshops in Exeter and we collaborated with them. Both UCL and the Exeter group presented papers.

UCL produced a very informative exhibition of five posters about the history of slave-ownership. Three posters outline the overall British story and two focus on Devon, for which the LDSG contributed material from their research. 

• The Slave Trade
• Life in the Colonies
• Slave-owners in Britain
• Devon and Slavery 1
• Devon and Slavery 2

These posters (each measuring 33 inches high by 70 inches wide) are freely available for display in schools, libraries, and museums around Devon. So far they have been displayed at the Devon Heritage Centre, Exeter Community Centre, the Devon and Exeter Institution, Tiverton Museum and at a few schools.

The mission statement of our group is shown here

Are you interested in working with us? Please contact us at DDE. If you are interested in doing your own research on slavery, here are some useful links

The image is of a bronze manilla and a mould for making manillas, from a bronze foundry in Cowick Street, Exeter, pre-1625. Manillas were used as currency in trade with West Africa, including the slave trade.

The photograph shows Thomas Davy with Rachel Longmore, Kensington, 1860. For further information on Davy see here.

At the moment, the LDSG is providing research support to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter for an exhibition entitled In Plain Sight: Transatlantic Slavery and Devon due to take place in autumn 2021, on the connections between RAMM itself and slave-ownership. Click here to learn more about the work of the artist connected with the exhibition,