SLAVE REGISTRY BILL (1815). A Bill for more effectually preventing the unlawful Importation of Slaves, and the holding Free Persons in Slavery, in the British Colonies.

Folio (12.5 inches). Bill 458. Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 5 July 1815. Caption title, 41 pages + docket. Headpiece ornament. Neatly extracted from a bound volume and expertly mended. Stitched. Manuscript page numbers written at the corner of each leaf. The original idea of setting up a registry for slaves in the British colonies as a means of preventing illegal importation was proposed by James Stephen (1758-1832), a British Member of Parliament (1808-1815), a lawyer deeply connected with the abolition movement, and a brother-in-law of leading abolitionist William Wilberforce (1859-1833). Many abolitionists believed that, although the Slave Trade Abolition Act, 1807 formally outlawed the trade in slaves, planters continued to purchase slaves from other European and British colonies in the Caribbean. It was thought that a slave registry could discourage the practise by collecting information on all slaves and monitoring their movements. On 13 June 1815, Wilberforce moved in the House of Commons for leave to bring in a Bill, tentatively titled A Bill For Better Preventing the Illicit Importation of Slaves into the British Colonies. Leave was granted to bring it in: it was read for a first time on 5 July 1815 and ordered to be printed (with the slightly revised title: A Bill for more effectually preventing the unlawful Importation of Slaves, and the holding Free Persons in Slavery, in the British Colonies). Known as the Slave Registry Bill, 1815, Wilberforce's proposed legislation called for the British government to conduct a detailed census of Negro slaves, and assemble a database of information on all slaves. The Bill was to provide for the establishment in every British colony where slavery was lawful, of a public registry for the enrollment of the names and descriptions of all persons held as slaves within the colony, and for a registrar of slaves for each colony. All persons in possession of slaves would be required to deliver to the registrar, upon oath, lists of their slaves with particulars as specified (including: given names and surnames, colour, employment, age, stature, original country of origin, marks and scars, and family relations). Detailed regulations governed the transfer of slaves from one British colony to another. Fines would be issued for false returns, and penalties for non-compliance could result in forfeiture of slaves and any vessels used in their illegal transport. The Bill was immediately and strongly opposed by British Planters in the Caribbean, who considered it an infringement on their legislative autonomy. In the end, the Planters' case against the proposed legislation was successful: the Slave Registry Bill, 1815 was withdrawn and did not proceed to an Act.…