Wage book for the slave trading ship Fox captained by Robert Mitchell
date: label: Date
content: 1774-1775
name: label: Written by
content: Captain Robert Mitchell
label: Subject of
content: William Davenport, English, 1725 - 1797
notes: label: Caption
content: Fox’s Wages Book
label: Caption
content: This volume contains information regarding a voyage of the ship Fox, a 146 ton brigantine that left Liverpool on March 8, 1774. The ship stopped first in the Cameroons, West Africa, where 148 African people were enslaved and brought aboard. The ship then crossed the Atlantic Ocean westward, landing first in Dominica. Seventeen (17) of the enslaved people died during the Atlantic crossing. After likely making other landings in the Caribbean to sell enslaved people the ship returned to Liverpool, completing the trip on February 22, 1775. The wages book recorded wages and debts of the crew, desertions, and several deaths of crew members by drowning. There are also records of enslaved people who worked on the ship and were paid in clothing.
label: Caption
content: Source: Nancy Bercaw, Curator, Slavery and Freedom
label: Description
content: This bound volume contains information regarding Captain Robert Mitchell and his crew aboard the slave trading ship Fox. The covers are made from a brown paper and the text "Fox's Wages Book / Feb.y 1775 Capt Mitchell" is written on the front cover in black ink. The thirty-six (36) total interior pages have text pertaining to wages and debts of the crew, desertions of the crew, and several deaths of crew members by drowning, all written in black ink. There are also records of enslaved people who worked on the ship and were paid in clothing. Most pages have writing on the front and back sides, but there are some blank pages toward the back of the volume. The pages are bound together with bast fiber thread.
label: Transcription Center Status
content: Transcribed by digital volunteers
place: label: Place used
content: Liverpool, Merseyside, England, Europe
label: Place depicted
content: Haiti, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Barbados, Caribbean, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Jamaica, Caribbean, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: County Cork, Ireland, Europe
label: Place depicted
content: Cameroon, Central Africa, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Commerce
label: Topic
content: Finance
label: Topic
content: Health
label: Topic
content: Labor
label: Topic
content: Medicine
label: Topic
content: Middle Passage
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Trans Atlantic slave trade
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2012.5.1
objectType: label: Type
content: account books
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper, bast thread
label: Dimensions
content: Closed: 12 1/2 × 8 1/2 × 11/16 in. (31.8 × 21.6 × 1.7 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Open: 12 1/2 × 16 5/16 × 1 3/4 in. (31.8 × 41.4 × 4.4 cm)