Funded by the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Culture, Heritage and Sport Fund 2024/25, the project will provide enhanced local, national and global access to the preeminent record of Wales's role in the history and legacy of transatlantic slavery.
Penrhyn estate records were initially deposited at Bangor University in 1939. The collection is now recognised as one of the largest and most significant estate archives in Europe, underpinning an extensive programme of research and community heritage initiatives. At its height the Penrhyn estate in north Wales incorporated hundreds of farms, rural settlements and major industrial ventures centred on the extraction slate, underpinning the recent award of UNESCO World Heritage Status to Slate Landscapes of Gwynedd. Penrhyn Castle now operates as a flagship National Trust heritage and visitor site. The capacity of the Pennant family to amass, manage, improve and exploit their land in north Wales was underpinned by a wealth initially accumulated from the enslavement of African people on their Jamaican sugar plantations.
The Penrhyn estate archive features records relating to all these spheres, including one of the most significant and chronologically expansive collections of records relating to the operation of transatlantic slavery. The Penrhyn Jamaica records preserve a detailed record of the Pennant family's centuries-long involvement in Jamaica and in the enslavement of African people; the management of their sugar plantations; the lives of enslaved Africans; the politics of colonialism and abolition; the post-enslavement history of the Caribbean; the wealth generated through the sugar industry; and the investment of this wealth across the agricultural, industrial, religious, political, civic and educational institutions of north-west Wales.
Digitising a representative selection of these papers and making them freely available online will animate this critical historical evidence base of Wales and Britain’s role in transatlantic slavery, and empower individuals and communities across Wales and internationally to engage with them through their own lens.
The Anti-Racist Wales Culture, Heritage and Sport Fund has been established by the Welsh Government to support organisations contribute towards the delivery of the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan. This includes priorities around setting the right historical narrative and creating resources for anti-racist education, learning and heritage interpretation.
Welcoming the award of the funding, Elen Wyn Simpson, Archives and Special Collections Manager said: ‘‘There is no doubt that the Penrhyn Castle archive is the most significant special collection in our care. It has been the focus of several cataloguing, conservation and community projects over the years and is of immense local interest as well as internationally significant for its historical importance. This funding from Welsh Government will help further meet the objectives of Bangor University’s Archives and Special Collections – facilitating free access through digitisation and working in partnership with the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates and external partners.’’
Dr Shaun Evans, Director of the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates added that: ‘‘Penrhyn is widely recognised as the primary symbol of Wales’s role in transatlantic slavery. The astonishing insights provided by the Penrhyn Jamaica Papers are hugely important for advancing awareness, acknowledgement and understanding this history. The digitisation of the records will inspire more research and more engagement. When the Jamaican High Commissioner visited us at Bangor in 2018, he emphasised the need for global accessibility to the collection as an important action for Wales-Jamaica relations and broader decolonisation objectives, and I’m pleased that this project will go some way towards meeting this objective.’’
Dr Marian Gwyn, Honorary Research Associate at Bangor University and an expert on the history of the Penrhyn estate commented: ‘‘I'm delighted that this project has received funding from the Welsh Government, allowing these records to be digitised and shared with a global audience. These records provide invaluable insight into the day-to-day realities of plantation management and the lives of enslaved people. They provide a vital counterpoint to broader historical narratives, adding depth and nuance to our understanding of this complex and painful history. While we often discuss the ‘what’ of empire, these documents reveal the ‘how’ – the systems of management, exploitation, and connection that sustained these vast enterprises. By making them digitally accessible, we empower a deeper and more meaningful engagement with this crucial part of our shared history and the role of imperial families like the Pennants within it.’’
The digitised records will be uploaded to JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/site/bangor-university/.
For the Welsh Government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan: https://www.gov.wales/anti-racist-wales-action-plan-2024-update-html.
You can keep up to date with the digitisation project, and its follow-on initiatives, by following Bangor University Archives and the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates on social media.
Bangor University Archives and Special Collections:
- Website: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/archives-and-special-collections
- Facebook and Twitter: @ArchPBU
Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates (ISWE):
- Website: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/iswe
- BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @YstadauCymru
