Voices in Slavery’s Archive: Law, Place and Testimony in British Guiana

19/10/2026

What can historical research help us see in the archive?

At Voices in Slavery's Archive, we spend a great deal of time working with original archival material from the Reports of the Protectors of Slaves. But we also regularly read books and journal articles by historians whose research helps us better understand the people, places, and experiences that appear in those documents.

This week we'll be reading Mary Turner's 'The 11 o'clock flog: Women, work and labour law in the British Caribbean’. In her study of Berbice (present-day Guyana) in the 1820s, Turner reveals how enslaved women challenged excessive workloads, harsh punishments, inadequate provision, and abuses of power. They petitioned colonial officials, protested collectively, and spoke out against injustices that affected not only themselves but their families and communities. Reading work like this is an important reminder that the archives contain more than records of oppression.

One of the practices they protested was the infamous "11 o'clock flog", a punishment administered when workers were judged not to have completed enough of their assigned task by the midday break. Women repeatedly challenged these conditions, asserting their right to dignity, rest, and fair treatment. Their names are often only briefly recorded, but their actions remind us that enslaved people were never passive subjects of history.

The Voices in Slavery's Archive team are interested in recovering and amplifying these stories. We would also love to hear your thoughts.

What lessons do these women's experiences hold for us today? Are there stories of perseverance, courage, or collective action that have been passed down through your family or community?



Mary Turner (1999) The 11 o'clock flog: Women, work and labour law in the British Caribbean, Slavery & Abolition, 20:1, 38-58, DOI: 10.1080/01440399908575268

Below: This detailed 1802 map, drawn by a Dutch military officer and issued by the Amsterdam cartographic publishing firm of Covens and Mortier, shows the Dutch colony of Berbice as it appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. NB/This map is listed 'free of copyright restrictions'.

12/10/2026

The Voices in Slavery's Archive project (2026-2029) focuses on the British Guianese Reports of the Protectors of Slaves. The reports reveal the everyday workings of slavery - violence, negotiation, gendered experiences and the limits of colonial 'justice'. They have preserved profound moments when enslaved people spoke and resisted slavery by demanding recognition of harm. Learn about the progress we have made over the last six months by requesting a copy of our biannual newsletter from [email protected]

21/09/2026

- Some of you may have seen the recent Guardian coverage of the Register of British Slave-Traders:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/14/register-british-slave-traders-africa-research

The Register of British Slave-Traders was a major collaborative research initiative led by Professor William Pettigrew. Working from 2021 onwards, a team of historians sought to identify and document all known British investors in the transatlantic slave trade, creating a database of approximately 13,000 individuals who financed and profited from slave-trading voyages.

We are delighted to note that Dr Kimberley Thomas, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the Voices in Slavery's Archive project, was previously a Research Associate on the AHRC-funded Register of British Slave-Traders project at the University of Manchester. As one of the project's researchers, she contributed to the uncovering, analysis, and compilation of the historical evidence that underpins the register.

Kimberley also contributed to tonight's BBC Two documentary, Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David Olusoga (9pm), alongside a number of other historians: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002zkrp

The two-part BBC programme explores how the monarchy drove the early British slave trade and, in doing so, transformed Britain's role in the history of transatlantic slavery.

If you watch the programme, we'd love to hear your thoughts. And for those who have attended our Community Engagement workshops, let's see if Kimberley actually appears on screen!

Photo from Left to Right: Juanita Cox, Linsey McMillan and Kimberley Thomas (standing next to the Damon Monument in Anna Regina, Guyana).

02/08/2026

01/08/2026

01/08/2026

African Emancipation Day in Guyana is a day of remembrance, repair, cultural survival, and renewal. It marks 1 August 1834, when slavery was legally abolished across the British Empire - though freedom came with an asterisk, as formerly enslaved people were compelled into the so called “apprenticeship” system until 1838.

For Voices in Slavery’s Archive, this day is also about honouring the people whose testimonies survive in the Reports of the Protectors of Slaves - individuals who asserted their humanity, dignity, family rights, and challenged injustice under bo***ge.

Today, as Guyana commemorates the rebellions of 1763 and 1823 and the extraordinary Village Movement that followed Full Freedom in 1838, Voices in Slavery’s Archive stands with descendant communities in restoring these histories to public memory.

To support this work, we are collaborating with the UK’s The National Archives (TNA) on a full facsimile reproduction of all 26 volumes of the Reports of the Protectors of Slaves for deposit at the Walter Rodney National Archives of Guyana.

The photographs below show a recent team meeting at TNA, where we discussed the technical and historical considerations involved in producing an exact, page for page replica.

Our first step was identifying a specialist publisher with proven expertise in reproducing rare, limited edition historical works. This requires a team of highly skilled craftspeople, technicians, bookbinders, paper specialists, leather workers, and others - combining traditional bookmaking knowledge with twenty first century printing technologies to achieve a faithful replica of the originals.

During the meeting, the team examined bound facsimiles of ancient texts such as the medieval Islamic Nahj-al Balagha to understand the standards achievable. We then reviewed the actual Protectors of Slaves volumes to anticipate the challenges of exact reproduction.

Key questions included:

• Page size and texture - Should dimensions, weight, and texture of the paper be cloned precisely?
• Page edges - Should pages be clean cut to protect against dust and insects, or should we mirror the original variations (curled, bent, torn, rough edged)?
• Marbled covers - How closely can the distinctive marbling be reproduced?
• Spine materials - Should we use leather and/or green buckram?
• Bindings - Should bindings be tight or replicate the looseness that has developed through decades of handling?
• Margins - How precisely should margin variations be copied?
• Proof checking - Once a proof set is produced, who checks page order and completeness?

Our hope is that this facsimile will give Guyanese researchers, descendants, and community historians direct access to the archival record, supporting new work rooted in the voices of their ancestors and enriching national memory.

02/07/2026

A sneak peak at yesterday’s workshop in London. Write to follow up in a few days.

23/06/2026

The Voices team will be in Manchester on Friday, 3rd July, 2pm-5pm, and running a workshop on the testimonies of enslaved people in the Reports of the Protector of Slaves (1819-1834).

We are keen to reach out to descendant communities based in Manchester and across the UK but recognise that travel costs can be a barrier. While our budget is limited, we would like to consider ways to support participation. If you are interested in attending, please let us know your estimated travel costs, and we will explore what assistance may be possible. You can contact us via email at .

For registration and more details about the workshop, please click on the link below.

The 'Voices' project works closely with descendant communities to understand potential uses of the reports of the 'Protector of Slaves'.

18/06/2026

The news from Ghana this week — a landmark gathering advancing reparatory justice after the recent UN resolution — feels deeply connected to the work we’re doing through Voices in Slavery’s Archive. ( Guardian source: https://sl1nk.com/0c93onb )

Across the Caribbean and the wider African diaspora, communities are calling not only for justice, but for access to the historical records that shaped their ancestors’ lives. Ghana’s leadership in this global conversation reminds us how essential archives are to truth‑telling, repair, and the restoration of dignity.

Our project is working toward the same horizon. By digitising the Reports of the Protectors of Slaves and making the contained testimonies of enslaved people freely available, we hope to remove barriers that have kept these voices out of reach for too long. These records show how enslaved people resisted the system of slavery, defended their families, and asserted their humanity — and they should be accessible to all descendant communities.

As countries like Ghana push for international recognition of historical harm, we’re committed to ensuring that Guyanese communities have the tools, evidence, and stories needed to shape their own narratives of memory, justice, and belonging.
This moment in global reparatory justice is a reminder: archives are not just documents - they are instruments of accountability, healing, and future‑making.

Feedback from the recent workshops we held in Guyana would suggest we are on the right track. Below are photographs from the session in New Amsterdam, Berbice, on 10 June 2026.

We extend our thanks to all who attended for sharing rich family and community histories — including stories that connected directly to some of the testimonies we brought as example cases.

16/06/2026

The workshop at Moray House (9th June 2026, 5pm - 7pm) was arranged theatre-style and had to be facilitated in a different way from the workshop that was held in the morning (same day) at the Walter Rodney National Archives of Guyana.

The contributions from the audience were as rich and equally fascinating. One lady shared that her family were from
Baracara village, located on the Canje River, in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region of Guyana and explained she was a descendant of the maroons. Elders in her family traced their roots to the Akan people of present-day Ghana, with some claiming ancestry to as far back as the Berbice Rebellion of 1763. Baracara's population is relatively small at 350 persons (as of 2018) and only accessible via boat.

Others asked questions, which we hope to be able to answer as the project progresses - Did as many women as men bring complaints to the court of the Protector of Slaves? What was the ratio? Why did enslaved people take cases to the Protector of Slaves given the generally unfavourable outcomes?

As with all our workshops, participants were drawn from a wide range of heritage backgrounds and avidly engaged in group discussions.

We plan having established this relationship with Moray House to set up follow-up zoom events providing updates on the project. Watch this space!