Home / History / Abolition / Abolitionists in Britain and America / William Allen / Willam Allen 1770 –1843 born Spitalfields, England
Asset 1 of 1 Previous Asset [ 1 ] Next Asset   [Slideshow]

Willam Allen 1770 –1843 born Spitalfields, England

Show/Hide_Details
Unique Id:

73642

This item is saved in one of your albums. Click to remove it.. My Albums

By the time the slave trade was abolished in 1807, William Allen had been involved in the movement for 20 years. He stayed involved for the rest of his life. William Allen was an English Quaker, born to a wealthy family in Spitalfields, England. He was a philanthropist and a leading scientist (co-founding the Pharmaceutical Society). He opened a 'soup society' and carried out agricultural experiments aimed at improving the nutrition and diet of ordinary people. He also ran a Quaker school for girls, where they were taught sciences as well as conventional lessons. He was also deeply involved in the campaign to end slavery in the British colonies. He was horrified by the idea of slavery from an early age and was one of the first to stop eating sugar in protest. In 1805, after some years of assisting the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, he was elected a 'Committee Member'. He was also a founder member and a Director of the African Institution; the successor body to the Sierra Leone Company, sponsored by philanthropists to establish a colony in West Africa for slaves freed on a voluntary basis through the abolitionists efforts. William Allen lived to see the Slavery Abolition Act passed on August 23 1833. However under the act, the enslaved were not to be freed immediately but were to become "apprentices" for 6 years before being completely freed. Compensation of 20 million was to be paid to the planters. William Allen thought this very unjust, he felt the apprentice clause was wrong and he received reports from a friend, Joseph Surge who travelled to the West Indies, providing evidence that planters abused it. He continued to campaign to achieve the complete freedom of African-Caribbean people. He held interviews with ministers and other officials. Protests finally forced the apprenticeship system to be abolished in 1st August 1838. William Allen died in September 1843.

With kind permission of 'The Library of the Religious Society of Friends'.

Added:
20th Sep 2007 by Diane Earl

Subjects:
History

Key Stages:
Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, Key Stage 4+

EXIF data:

© Copyright E2BN - East of England Broadband Network and MLA East of England 2009 | Contact Us