William Davenport (slave trader)

[2] His wider family were part of the landed gentry and in 1726 they inherited the stately home Capesthorne Hall, Siddington, Cheshire, which at that time was under construction.

[1] Davenport opened new markets; he sold enslaved people in Tobago, St. Vincent, Grenada and Dominica, islands that were ceded to the British from the French in 1763.

Radburn[a] speculates that Davenport wanted to avoid wider public scrutiny and the slurs against his character that remaining a slave trader would have entailed.

[11] The papers came to light in October 2000 during an episode of the Antiques Roadshow: they comprise 12 leather-bound volumes and 13 bundles of letters.

[13] The archives include the names of the other slave traders involved, the cost of refitting ships, the age and gender of enslaved people transported, and the agents who bought and sold them.