A new account says Sandbach, Tinne and Company, a Liverpool firm connected to Britain’s slavery-era merchants, continued trafficking enslaved Africans illegally to Guyana long after slavery was abolished. The reporting draws on a letter dated 1847 found in the company’s correspondence, which it says indicates the firm was still engaged in the practice roughly 40 years after abolition.
The sources describe how Britain’s abolition process included compensation payments to plantation owners while enslaved people received no compensation. They also say the firm was closely linked to merchants who received large taxpayer-funded payouts, placing its later actions in the broader context of how slavery-related wealth and influence persisted after legal abolition. While both outlets focus on the same documentary evidence and overall claim, the emphasis differs between broader discussion of the compensation system (The Guardian) and the headline framing of the continued trafficking allegation (Yahoo UK).
