Emancipated African Children in Scotland

In the 19th century, Scottish explorers, military officers and missionaries in Africa frequently relied on the knowledge and skills of children. This talk explores some of the life-stories of African children, who were brought to Scotland as part of the broader engagement of Scots in the expansion of the British Empire. Children, many of them ‘redeemed from slavery’, taught, guided and educated Scots about and through Africa and African languages. This talk illuminates more about the lives of African child migrants in Scotland in the late nineteenth century.  

Christine Whyte is a Lecturer in Global History at the University of Glasgow. She is currently a British Academy / Wolfson Foundation Fellow working on a project titled ‘Recaptured Childhoods’, which traces the lives and experiences of children liberated from the slave trade in the 19th century.

This lecture will now be run online on Microsoft Teams; booking is essential as attendees will be sent joining instructions a day or so beforehand. If you do not hear from us an hour or so before, please check your junk or spam folder. If joining us on a mobile device (tablet or smartphone) you will need to install Teams onto your device beforehand, and also Microsoft Powerpoint if your device is older so that you can view any slides. The apps can be downloaded free from the App Store or the Google Play Store.