2007 commemoration at Orleans House Gallery

Did you know that 200 years ago next year, Parliament finally outlawed the slave trade within the British Empire? Throughout 2007, people all over the country will be marking this anniversary in different ways.

Be part of Richmond’s 2007 commemoration project!

Orleans House Gallery has created an exhibition exploring the Slave Trade Abolition Bill and its legacy in a specific local context. The exhibition includes:

• An ongoing research project to explore the undiscovered links between the borough’s landmarks, landscapes and historic personalities and the slave trade. This project enlisted the local community in the process of uncovering the area’s links with the slave trade, abolition, and evidence of historic black presence.
• A partnership project with our twin town of Richmond Virginia using an examination of slavery and its legacy in their city to broaden our understanding of the transatlantic trade and the impact of its abolition.
• A display of contemporary artwork, including a collaborative piece to be created at this year’s carnival, responding to the ideas of slavery and abolition.

This exhibition project has been generously sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

We need your help!

Not enough is known about our area’s links with the slave trade and abolition, or about historic black presence in the borough.Although the exhibition is now up, we are keen to continue the research project to explore the undiscovered links between the borough’s landmarks, landscapes and historic personalities and the slavetrade. We need as many members of the community as possible to help us, by:

• Telling us what you know
• Sharing ideas
• Keeping their you open when carrying out their own family history studies
• Telling us your own or your family’s stories - we are interested in more recent history too!