Captain Crow and Colonel Wilks

Colonel Mark Wilks was a Manx soldier and administrator. In 1813 he was appointed Governor of St Helena while Napoleon was imprisoned there; Napoleon was said to have found him a highly engaging and affable man. Wilks was elected to the House of Keys, becoming Speaker in 1822. 

Born into slavery, Samuel Ally was granted his freedom by his master Colonel Wilks, whilst Wilks was Governor of St Helena.  When he returned to the Isle of Man, Wilks brought Samuel with him. Samuel died aged just 18 and was buried in Kirk Braddan churchyard.

Samuel's gravestone at Kirk Braddan was paid for by Wilks. The inscription reads, 'This stone is erected by a grateful master to the memory of a faithful servant who repaid the boon of liberty with unbounded attachment.'   

A contemporary of Wilks, Captain Hugh Crow was born in Ramsey. While Wilks freed his slave, Crow worked in the slave trade from Liverpool. His memoirs describe his career as a slave ship captain. He was in command on seven separate voyages.

Crow said, 'I have viewed the abstraction of slaves from Africa to our colonies as a necessary evil, under existing circumstances.' Crow felt the trade in slaves was justified because it provided labour for plantations in the West Indies and America. (Photo: Ramsey Harbour)

Crow claimed good relations with slaves on his ships and a song written about him said,

'Captain ain’t flogging with a whip and nobody dying on his ship...
And if the boys got hit by a ball
He go see them in the hospital
And sit down and talk and pity them.' 
(New Version)

Hugh Crow was the last captain of any English slave ship. The Kitty’s Amelia’s final slaving voyage from Liverpool was the last legal one for an English ship. Records indicate that Kitty's Amelia lost 16% of the 277 slaves she set out with and 23 of her 43 crew. (Photo: Niarbyl)

A later article in The Isle of Man Examiner (27 November 1953) says that Crow declined a seat in the Keys and was renowned for his humane treatment of slaves. He died and was buried in Maughold Churchyard in 1829.

You can learn more about the Island's historic links with the transatlantic slave trade by reading Frances Wilkins' Manx Slave Traders (1999) or by getting in touch with Manx National Heritage Library and Archives who can tell you about the resources you can explore.