Introduction
The scandal of the slave-ship ‘Zong’ was one of the turning points in the campaign to end slavery throughout the British Empire. As so often, the quest for justice was led by self-taught jurist Granville Sharp, who turned to the Press after a sensational court case had failed to deliver any kind of justice at all.
ON August 18th, 1781, a slave-ship named Zong left Accra in Ghana with 442 slaves on board, bound for Jamaica. Over-laden and under-crewed, the ship reached the Caribbean late in November, but by this time sickness had ravaged the ship. One of those affected was her master, Luke Collingwood, and in the chaos the ship not only missed a water stop at Tobago, but sailed right past Jamaica, apparently mistaking it for Hispaniola.
When Zong eventually put into Jamaica on December 22nd, there were only 208 slaves on board, a loss of 234. Collingwood coolly told the owners, Gregson’s of Liverpool, that 142 slaves had been tossed overboard to save on water; and he added, that as these ‘parcels’ had not perished on board but been jettisoned to save the rest of the cargo, Gregson’s should put in a claim to the insurers to cover their loss. The underwriters were far from convinced, however, and to avoid paying up they went to court in March 1783.*
Gregson v. Gilbert (1783) 3 Doug 232, 99 ER 629.