In his talk, Tommy provides a brief introduction into how British transatlantic slavery connects the histories of Wells, the West Country and the Atlantic World. He starts by examining the emergence of the transatlantic slave-trade in the sixteenth century and the development of plantation slave economies in the Caribbean. As part of the story, you’ll be introduced to some of the key individuals and families from Wells and the West Country, whose lives link Britain and the Caribbean together.
Tommy is a postgraduate student currently studying for a Master’s in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Studies at University College London. In his final-year as a History undergraduate at Exeter University in 2022 he completed an internship with Wells Cathedral to investigate and publicly present the Cathedral and City’s connections to transatlantic slavery, including in-depth research into archival material and slavery’s traces in the built environment of Wells today.
