William Snelgrave

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William Snelgrave was an English sea captain, slave trader, and ivory trader on the West African coast. He actually treated his slaves better than most traders, providing two meals a day, visits to the deck, and pipes and tobacco. He also allowed the women and children to be unchained. He was captured by pirates along the coast of West Africa in 1719.

In 1727 he arrived at Whydah which had just been captured by Dahomey. His account of this event, which he learned of second hand, has been the main source of many modern historians.

In 1734 he published A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave-Trade. He was not critical of the slave trade like other traders became and dedicated his book to the European merchants of West Africa.

[edit] Sources

• Law, Robin. "A Neglected Account of the Dahomian Conquest of Whydah (1727): The 'Relation de la Guerre de Juda of the Sieur Ringard of Nantes" in History of Africa, 15 (1988), p. 321-338.
• Snelgrave, William. "A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (1734)".