The Zong - Slave ship

The Ship below is a replica of the infamous Slave Ship The Zong, seen here passing through Tower Bridge on Thursday 29th March 2007

The Zong was owned by William Gregson and George Case, well-known merchants in the City of Liverpool.  Both were former Mayors of that City.
The Zong sailed from the west coast of Africa on 6 September 1781 with 442 slaves aboard.  She was grossly overloaded and did not have sufficient provisions for such a large number.
The voyage took nearly 2 months by which time most of the slaves were malnourished and succumbing to sickness and disease.  The ship was under the command of Captain Collingwood who lost his way in the Caribbean Sea which added to the length of the journey. 
Many of the slaves had already died and Collingwood knew that those who survived would not fetch a high price on the slave market.  He decided to use a shortage of fresh water as the pretext for recording that his 'crew were endangered'. 
In this way he justified throwing overboard 133 slaves. 

• 55 were thrown overboard on 29 November, 42 on the 30th
• A heavy downfall of rain the next day provided plenty of fresh water
• Despite this 26 more slaves were thrown overboard on 1 December
• another 10 jumped in of their own accord

The owners claimed £30 a head from the insurers which was disputed. 
The case went to court in 1783 backed by the King's Bench and the insurers lost.
The underwriters petitioned the Court of Exchequer and again lost. 
Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, said 

• 'The matter left to the jury was whether it was necessary that the slaves were thrown into the sea, for they had no doubt that the case of slaves was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard.' 

THE ZONG

The 18th century replica slave ship due to enter the Pool of London under Royal Navy escort on 29 March 2007 will be named The Zong. This was the name of the most notorious of the slave ships.  It was owned by William Gregson and George Case, well-known merchants in the City of Liverpool.  Both were former Mayors of that City.
The Zong sailed from the west coast of Africa on 6 September 1781 with 442 slaves aboard.  She was grossly overloaded and did not have sufficient provisions for such a large number. The slaves were chained two by two, right leg and left leg, right hand and left hand, each of them was said to have less room than a man in a coffin.
The voyage took nearly 2 months by which time most of the slaves were malnourished and succumbing to sickness and disease.  The ship was under the command of Captain Collingwood who lost his way in the Caribbean Sea which added to the length of the journey. 
Many of the slaves had already died and Collingwood knew that those who survived would not fetch a high price on the slave market.  He decided to use a shortage of fresh water as the pretext for recording that his 'crew were endangered'.  He thus justified his action of throwing overboard 133 slaves.  55 were thrown overboard on 29 November, 42 the next day and despite a heavy downfall of rain which alleviate the shortage of water 26 more slaves were thrown overboard on 1 December while another 10 jumped in of their own accord.
The owners claimed £30 a head from the insurers which was disputed.  The case then went to court in 1783 backed by the King's Bench, whereupon the underwriters petitioned the Court of Exchequer.  After the case, Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, stated, 'The matter left to the jury was whether it was necessary that the slaves were thrown into the sea, for they had no doubt that the case of slaves was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard.'
The barrister for the owners argued, 'So far from a charge of murder lying against those people, there is not the least imputation....even of impropriety.'
The law at that time is stated, 'The insurer takes upon him the risk of the loss, capture, and death of slaves, or any other unavoidable accident to them: but natural death is always understood to be excepted: by natural death is meant, not only when it happens by disease or sickness, but also when the captive destroys himself through despair, which often happens: but when slaves are killed, or thrown into thrown into the sea in order to quell an insurrection on their part, then the insurers must answer.'
Granville Sharp, the intrepid Abolitionist, took up the case and used it in his campaign.  He visited every bishop in the country most of whom joined the abolition cause as a result of this case and he spoke at public meetings throughout the land. The story of The Zong became a national talking point.  The fact that throwing 133 Africans overboard was not regarded as murder but simply as the lawful disposal of 'merchandise' at last stirred the national conscience. Although it took another 24 years to persuade Parliament to ban the slave trade, The Zong was the first significant turning point in the abolitionist campaign.