The Zong Massacre, Nov 29th 1781

Events that shaped our world

On this day 242 years ago the “Zong Massacre” occurred. The Zong was a slave ship. It was originally built by Dutch slave traders in 1777. Ironically, its name  means “care”. Its original purpose was the transportation of slaves to Suriname.

The British captured the boat in 1781. They then sold it to the William Gregson slave trading syndicate based out of Liverpool. Gregson was one of the most prominent slavers of the 18th century. He is believed to be responsible for the transportation of 58,201 kidnapped African slaves. Of these, at least 9,148 died aboard his ships. He was Lord Mayor of Liverpool, as was his son, John Gregson, also a slaver.

The Zong left Accra in Ghana with 442 enslaved Africans aboard,  twice the boat's capacity. The slaves had been purchased at Cape Coast Castle and Anomabu. The kidnapped people were most likely Ashanti and Southern Akan people. Altogether there were just 17 crew members on board. Nowhere near enough to maintain hygiene in such overcrowded conditions.

The Captain, Luke Collingwood, a doctor by trade, was making his first voyage in charge of a ship. Doctors were important in the slave trade. Their expertise was useful in the establishing of prices for slaves at markets.

At some point along the journey Collingwood became ill. A breakdown of command followed and it is unclear who took charge over the ships command. Whoever it was made serious errors as they ended up 300 miles leeward of their destination. Soon supplies ran  low and disease ran rampant due to overcrowding and lack of hygiene.

At this point the crew decided they should start throwing African people overboard. They began by throwing 54 women and children overboard, followed by 42 men. The next day another 36. 10 Africans took their own lives by diving overboard in defiance of the horrific crewmen. In total, 142 people were thrown overboard and drowned in the Caribbean sea. 

The ship eventually reached its destination of Black River, Jamaica. Here the surviving slaves were sold upon arrival for an average price of £36 per person.

News of the massacre reached Gregson & co back in Liverpool. They were horrified. Not by the loss of lives but by their lost earnings. So they filed for compensation  from their insurance company. The claim was denied by the insurance company and legal proceedings ensued.

At first the jury ruled in favour of the ship’s owners. The insurance company would have to recompense them for their loss.

That may have been it were it not for the work of Olaudah Equiano. Olaudah was a freed slave, abolitionist and writer. He himself had been kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of 11. After many years in captivity Olaudah had purchased his freedom by reimbursing his “owner” his original outlay. To earn this money he traded fruit & glass tumblers whilst travelling aboard ships in the Caribbean.

Equiano's life is one worthy of detailed examination in its own right. However that is not today's purpose.

Equiano informed Granville Sharp, a philanthropist & abolitionist about the case. Together they worked successfully towards getting the case retried.

The retrial found that the insurers were not liable for loss of earnings. That was as much as they could get. No murder proceedings would ever take place.

In researching this desperately heart-wrenching story one glimmer of hope from the whole affair did emerge. According to official records, 3 of the slaves, nameless, did eventually manage to escape slavery.  Their fate was recorded as “ran away”.

It is important to acknowledge that the transatlantic slave trade was a crucial element of the development of western society. The horrific acts carried out by colonial powers, such as this one, are the foundation stones that the modern world order is built upon.

Yet still to this day African countries have not received reparations. Instead they are laden with crippling debts to western financial institutions. These institutions are largely controlled by the very countries who profited from the kidnapped people of Africa two centuries ago.