Legislation on the slave trade
Legislation on the slave trade


Royal NavySlave trade legislation ► Acts of Parliament

1° & 2° Victoriae., cap. LXXXIII

An Act for carrying into effect a Convention of Accession of the Duke of Tuscany to Two Conventions with the King of the French for suppressing the Slave Trade.

[10th August 1838.]

Convention between Great Britain and France for Suppression of the Slave Trade.

3 & 4 W. 4. c. 72.

Convention of Accession of the Duke of Tuscany.
WHEREAS Two Conventions were concluded between His late Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of the French for rendering more effectual the Means of suppressing the criminal Traffic called the Slave Trade, and signed at Paris on the Thirtieth Day of November in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one and on the Twenty second Day of March in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three: And whereas His late Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of the French, conformably to the Ninth Article of the First of the said Conventions, which states that the other Maritime Powers shall be invited to accede to it, addressed an Invitation to His Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and His Imperial and Royal Highness, animated with the same Sentiments and anxious to concur with His Two august Allies in the same humane Object, had without Hesitation assented to their Proposal: And whereas an Act passed in the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled An Act for carrying into effect Two Conventions with the King of the French for suppressing the Slave Trade: And whereas a Convention was concluded between Her Britannick Majesty, His Majesty the King of the French, and His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany, containing the Accession of His said Imperial Highness to the aforesaid Two Conventions between Great Britain and France for the more effectual Suppression of the Slave Trade, and was signed at Florence on the Twenty-fourth Day of November One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, containing as follows:
  'Article I. - His Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany accedes to the Conventions concluded and signed on the Thirtieth of November One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one and on the Twenty-second of March One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three between His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of the French, relating to the Suppression of the Slave Trade, as well as to the Annex of the latter Convention, containing Instructions to Cruizers, excepting the Reservations and Modifications expressed in the Second, Third, and Fourth Articles herein-after given, which Articles shall be considered additional to the said Conventions and to the Annex above mentioned; and excepting the Differences which necessarily result from the Situation of His Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany as Party acceding to the Conventions in question after their Conclusion;
  'Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of the French having accepted the said Accession, all the Articles of these Two Conventions, and all the Conditions of the said Annex, shall in consequence be held to have been concluded and signed in the same Manner as the present Convention directly between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty the King of the French, and His Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany:
  'The Three High Contracting Parties engage and promise reciprocally to each other to execute faithfully all the Clauses, Conditions, and Obligations of the present Convention, subject always to the Reservations and Modifications therein contained; and, in order to prevent any Uncertainty, it has been agreed that the above-mentioned Conventions, and the Annex of the latter, containing Instructions to Cruizers, should be inserted here Word for Word [which were accordingly inserted Word for Word therein],
  'Article II. - It is agreed, with reference to the Fifth Article of the Instructions annexed to the Supplementary Convention of the Twenty-second Day of March One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, that all Vessels bearing the Tuscan Flag, and appearing by their Papers to belong to Tuscany, which shall be detained, in execution of the Conventions above transcribed, by the Cruizers of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland or of His Majesty, the King of the French, employed on the Stations of America, Africa, or Madagascar, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Leghorn.
  'Article III. - Whereas the landing at the Port of Leghorn of the Slaves who may be found on board Vessels bearing the Tuscan Flag, and appearing by their Papers to belong to Tuscany, might be attended with great Inconvenience, it is agreed that the Slaves found on board such Vessel detained by a British or French Cruizer shall be previously landed at the nearest Port or Place, whether British or French, to which a Slave Vessel under the Flag of One of those Two Nations found and detained under similar Circumstances would, according to the above-mentioned Conventions, be conducted or sent; the British Ports of Bathurst on the Gambia, Port Royal in Jamaica, the Cape of Good Hope, and Demerara, as well as the French Ports of Goree, Martinique, Bourbon, and Cayenne, shall be considered as respectively fixed on for this Purpose for the British and French cruizing Stations on the Coasts of Africa, the West Indies, Madagascar, and the Brazils.
  'Article IV. - If His Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany should not deem it expedient to fit out Cruisers of his own for the Suppression of the Trade, he nevertheless engages to furnish the special Authority or Warrant required by the Fifth Article of the Convention of the Thirtieth of November One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one to the Commanders of the British and French Cruizers, as soon as the Names and the Number thereof shall have been notified to him.
  'Article V. - The present Convention shall be ratified, and the Ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Florence, within the Space of Three Months, or sooner if possible.
  'And whereas it is expedient that the Provisions of the said recited Act of the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth should be applied to the said Convention of Accession of the Duke of Tuscany, signed at Florence on the Twenty-fourth Day of November One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, for the carrying into execution the said Convention and Articles for the more effectual Suppression of the Slave Trade:'
Provisions of the recited Act extended to the Convention of Accession of Tuscany. Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That all Clauses, Provisions, Powers, and Authorities contained in, and all Penalties and Forfeitures imposed by, the said recited Act of the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth shall be applied and put in force for the Purpose of carrying into execution the said Convention, and the several Articles, Stipulations, and Regulations therein respectively contained, except so far as any of such Powers and Authorities are altered by this Act, as fully and effectually as if the same were re-enacted in this Act as to such Convention and all Matters therein respectively contained.
Vessels captured bearing the Flag of Tuscany to be taken to Leghorn. II. And be it enacted, That, in pursuance of the said Second Article of the said Convention, all Vessels bearing the Tuscan Flag, and appearing by their Papers to belong to Tuscany, which may be detained, in execution of the said Convention of the Years One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one and One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three respectively, by the Cruizers of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland employed on the Stations of America, of Africa, or of Madagascar, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Leghorn.
Slaves found on board Vessels bearing the Tuscan Flag to be taken to certain Ports. III. And be it enacted, That, in pursuance of the said Third Article of the said Convention, all Slaves who are found on board Vessels bearing the Tuscan Flag, and appearing by their Papers to belong to Tuscany, and detained by a British Cruizer, shall be landed at the nearest British Port or Place to which a Slave Vessel under the Flag of Great Britain or France found and detained under similar Circumstances would according to the above-mentioned Convention be conducted or sent; videlicet, either to the Cape of Good Hope, or to the British Port of Bathurst on the Gambia, or to Port Royal in Jamaica, or to Demerara.


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