Zachary Macaulay
Encyclopedia
Zachary Macaulay was a slavery
abolitionist and campaigner.
, Scotland
, the son of the Rev. John Macaulay (1720–1789, minister in the Church of Scotland
, grandson of Dòmhnall Cam, and his mother was Margaret Campbell. He had two brothers, Rev. Aulay Macaulay, scholar and antiquary, and Colin Macaulay
, General, slavery
abolitionist and campaigner.
Receiving only a rudimentary education, he eventually taught himself Greek
and Latin
, and read the English classics. Having worked in a merchant’s office in Glasgow
, he fell into bad company and began to indulge in excessive drinking.
, where he worked as an assistant manager at a sugar plantation. He was at first deeply affected by the horrific violence of the slavery
which surrounded him, but eventually became hardened to the plight of the slaves (by his own admission “callous and indifferent”). He was a good worker, had successfully moderated his drinking, and proved himself to be a model bookkeeper. He also, eventually, began to take an interest in the slaves and their welfare.
In 1789 Macaulay returned to Britain and secured a position in London
. His sister Jean had married Thomas Babington
of Rothley Temple
, Leicestershire
, a country gentleman and ardent evangelical
, and soon after Macaulay went to stay with them he began to come under their influence. He underwent what he described as a conversion experience and soon came to know Babington’s associates, among whom were William Wilberforce
and Henry Thornton
.
, the west African colony
founded by the Sierra Leone Company
to provide a home for emancipated slaves from the United States
who came to Sierra Leone via Nova Scotia
.
Returning to the colony in 1792 as one of the council members, he was promoted to governor in 1794, and was the longest serving governor of Freetown during the 1790s. An unpopular governor, Macaulay remained as governor until 1799.
(to whom he had been introduced by Hannah More
) on 26 August 1799, and they settled in Clapham
, Surrey
. They had several children, including
, and soon becoming a leading figure in the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. He later became secretary of the committee, which became known as the African Institution
.
His major contribution was to work on the collection and collating of the huge volume of evidence and drafting of reports – a role to which he was ideally suited as a skilled statistician with a meticulous approach and an exceptional head for figures.
He also became a member of the Clapham Sect
of evangelical Christian
reformers
, together with Wilberforce, Henry Thornton
and Edward Eliot
, and edited their magazine, the Christian Observer, from 1802 to 1816.
In the 1820s Macaulay turned his attention towards securing the total abolition of slavery itself. He helped found the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery (later the Anti-Slavery Society
) in 1823, and was editor of its publication, the Anti-Slavery Reporter
. Through his incessant hard work and reasoned argument, he helped to lay the foundation for the eventual abolition of slavery
throughout the British Empire
in 1833.
A fellow of the Royal Society
, he was also an active supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society
the Cheap Repository Tracts
and the Church Missionary Society.
on 13 May 1838. A memorial to him was erected in Westminster Abbey
, depicting the figure of a kneeling slave with the motto ‘Am I not a Man and a Brother?’
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
abolitionist and campaigner.
Early life
Macaulay was born in InverarayInveraray
Inveraray is a royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is the traditional county town of Argyll and ancestral home to the Duke of Argyll.-Coat of arms:...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the son of the Rev. John Macaulay (1720–1789, minister in the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, grandson of Dòmhnall Cam, and his mother was Margaret Campbell. He had two brothers, Rev. Aulay Macaulay, scholar and antiquary, and Colin Macaulay
Colin Macaulay
Colin Macaulay , general, slavery abolitionist and campaigner. Macaulay was a son of the Rev. John Macaulay , minister in the Church of Scotland, grandson of Dòmhnall Cam. and his mother was Margaret Campbell. He had two brothers: Rev...
, General, slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
abolitionist and campaigner.
Receiving only a rudimentary education, he eventually taught himself Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, and read the English classics. Having worked in a merchant’s office in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, he fell into bad company and began to indulge in excessive drinking.
Career
In late 1784, at the age of sixteen, in order to get his life into some kind of order, Macaulay emigrated to JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, where he worked as an assistant manager at a sugar plantation. He was at first deeply affected by the horrific violence of the slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
which surrounded him, but eventually became hardened to the plight of the slaves (by his own admission “callous and indifferent”). He was a good worker, had successfully moderated his drinking, and proved himself to be a model bookkeeper. He also, eventually, began to take an interest in the slaves and their welfare.
In 1789 Macaulay returned to Britain and secured a position in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His sister Jean had married Thomas Babington
Thomas Babington
Thomas Babington was an English philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, alongside more famous abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and Hannah More...
of Rothley Temple
Rothley Temple
Rothley Temple is a chapel in Rothley, Leicestershire associated with the Knights Templar.Records show that the Templars were already in Rothley when King John gave them five librates of land in 1203. Further donations were acquired between 1218 and 1219, though it would seem that a preceptory was...
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, a country gentleman and ardent evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
, and soon after Macaulay went to stay with them he began to come under their influence. He underwent what he described as a conversion experience and soon came to know Babington’s associates, among whom were William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
and Henry Thornton
Henry Thornton (abolitionist)
Henry Thornton was an English economist, banker, philanthropist and parliamentarian.-Early life:He was the son of John Thornton of Clapham, London, who had been one of the early patrons of the evangelical movement in Britain...
.
Sierra Leone
Partly because of his experiences in Jamaica, in 1790 Macaulay was invited to visit Sierra LeoneSierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, the west African colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
founded by the Sierra Leone Company
Sierra Leone Company
The Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa in 1792 through the resettlement of black American ex-slaves who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War...
to provide a home for emancipated slaves from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who came to Sierra Leone via Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
Returning to the colony in 1792 as one of the council members, he was promoted to governor in 1794, and was the longest serving governor of Freetown during the 1790s. An unpopular governor, Macaulay remained as governor until 1799.
Family
Macaulay married Selina Mills of BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
(to whom he had been introduced by Hannah More
Hannah More
Hannah More was an English religious writer, and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical...
) on 26 August 1799, and they settled in Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. They had several children, including
- Thomas Babington Macaulay the historianHistorianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. - Hannah More Macaulay (1810–1873) who married Sir Charles TrevelyanSir Charles Trevelyan, 1st BaronetSir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India; in the late 1850s and 1860s he served there in senior-level appointments...
and was the mother of Sir George Otto TrevelyanSir George Trevelyan, 2nd BaronetSir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet OM, PC was a British statesman and author. In a ministerial career stretching almost 30 years, he was most notably twice Secretary of State for Scotland under William Ewart Gladstone and the Earl of Rosebery...
Abolitionist
Macaulay became a member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, working closely with William WilberforceWilliam Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
, and soon becoming a leading figure in the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. He later became secretary of the committee, which became known as the African Institution
African Institution
The African Institution in 1807 after Britain abolitionists succeeded in ending slavery in Great Britain. The Institution was formed to succeed where the former Sierra Leone Company had failed - to create a viable, civilized refuge for freed slaves in Sierra Leone, Africa...
.
His major contribution was to work on the collection and collating of the huge volume of evidence and drafting of reports – a role to which he was ideally suited as a skilled statistician with a meticulous approach and an exceptional head for figures.
He also became a member of the Clapham Sect
Clapham Sect
The Clapham Sect or Clapham Saints were a group of influential like-minded Church of England social reformers based in Clapham, London at the beginning of the 19th century...
of evangelical Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
reformers
Reform movement
A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes...
, together with Wilberforce, Henry Thornton
Henry Thornton (abolitionist)
Henry Thornton was an English economist, banker, philanthropist and parliamentarian.-Early life:He was the son of John Thornton of Clapham, London, who had been one of the early patrons of the evangelical movement in Britain...
and Edward Eliot
Edward James Eliot
The Honourable Edward James Eliot was an English Member of Parliament.Eliot was born in Cornwall, the son of Edward Craggs-Eliot , politician, created Baron Eliot in 1784....
, and edited their magazine, the Christian Observer, from 1802 to 1816.
In the 1820s Macaulay turned his attention towards securing the total abolition of slavery itself. He helped found the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery (later the Anti-Slavery Society
Anti-Slavery Society
The Anti-Slavery Society or A.S.S. was the everyday name of two different British organizations.The first was founded in 1823 and was committed to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Its official name was the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the...
) in 1823, and was editor of its publication, the Anti-Slavery Reporter
Anti-Slavery Reporter
The Anti-Slavery Reporter was founded in 1825 by Zachary Macaulay , a Scottish philanthropist who devoted most of his life to the anti-slavery movement. At the age of 16 he was sent to Jamaica, where he eventually became a plantation manager, but his unhappiness with the treatment of slaves brought...
. Through his incessant hard work and reasoned argument, he helped to lay the foundation for the eventual abolition of slavery
Slavery Abolition Act
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire...
throughout the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in 1833.
A fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, he was also an active supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
the Cheap Repository Tracts
Cheap Repository Tracts
The Cheap Repository Tracts was a series of around 120 political and religious tracts published between March 1795 and December 1797, for sale or distribution to literate poor people, as an alternative to the ‘corrupt and vicious little books and ballads which have been hung out of windows in the...
and the Church Missionary Society.
Last days
After a period of ill health, Macaulay died in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 13 May 1838. A memorial to him was erected in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, depicting the figure of a kneeling slave with the motto ‘Am I not a Man and a Brother?’
External links
- Macaulay genealogy forum message
- Macaulay genealogy forum message
- Article Macaulay, Zachary (and Macaulay, Aulay) in the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology (Edinburgh, 1993) ISBN 0-567-09650-5
- Negro slavery By Zachary Macaulay. Published in 1824. Cornell University Library Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection. {Reprinted by} Cornell University Library Digital Collections