1834 Parliamentary Act [15th August 1834]

1834 Parliamentary Act [15th August 1834] (27 pages) -- (On August 1, 1834 all slaves in the British Empire were emancipated, but still indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system which was finally abolished in 1838. £20 million was paid in compensation to plantation owners in the Caribbean.) -- An Act to apply a Sum of Money out of the Consolidated Fund and the Surplus of Grants to the Service of the Year 1834, and to appropriate the Supplies granted in this Session of Parliament. This document details where the money is to be spent: "£580 for Office of Registrar of Colonial Slaves", "£16,200 for Commissioners for preventing the Slave Trade", "£5,707 to defray the Charge of the Salaries of the Inspectors and Superintendents of the Factories...to regulate the Labour of Children and young Persons in the Mills and Factories...", "£12,750 to the Baptist Missionary Society, and to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, on account of Expenses incurred in the Erection of certain Chapels destroyed in the Island of Jamaica", £1,000 for the Female Orphan House, Dublin" and much more...

The British government paid compensation to the slave owners. The amount that the plantation owners received depended on the number of slaves that they had. For example, the Bishop of Exeter's 665 slaves resulted in him receiving £12,700.