Ancestry.co.uk has announced the release of the Barbados Slave Registry for 1834, CNN reports. "In 1819 the Office for the Registry of Colonial Slaves was established in London and copies of the slave registers kept by the colonies were sent to this office. Registration generally occurred once every three years. The registers continue through to 1834 when slavery was officially abolished."
The database includes information on nearly 100,000 slaves, including their names, place of origin, gender, age, place of residence, and owner. "Over the course of the next 12 months Ancestry.co.uk will publish records from a total of 23 of the UK's dependencies and colonies, which will give details of approximately 3 million slaves from across the British Empire."
Digitization has totally revolutionized the genealogical research field in the past few years, and it's particularly exciting to see materials like this come online which can help people research their slave ancestry. As an Ancestry.co.uk spokesman told CNN, "With few relevant collections online, it has not been easy for those with ancestors from former British colonies or territories to research their black family history."