Edward Parr facts for kids
Edward Parr (born in 1718) was an English merchant and a slave trader. He was involved in 51 voyages that carried enslaved people across the Atlantic Ocean. These voyages operated out of the Port of Liverpool between 1750 and 1768. Parr owned a slave ship called Briton. Its captain sometimes worked with an African leader named Captain Lemma Lemma, who used war canoes to capture people and sell them into slavery. Edward Parr was also a member of the African Company of Merchants, a group that supported the slave trade.
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Edward Parr's Early Life
Edward Parr was born in Liverpool. His father, Jonas Parr, was an apothecary (a type of pharmacist) on Castle Street. His family had been landowners in Rainford since the 1400s. By the late 1600s, they had become merchants and shipowners in Liverpool. Edward Parr was also a cousin of the famous gunmaker John Parr.
Edward Parr and the Slave Trade
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Edward Parr continued his father's business as an apothecary and a general merchant in Liverpool. He became deeply involved in the slave trade, doing business with West Africa, the Caribbean, and areas like Chesapeake Bay in America. It is believed he became the second richest man in Liverpool because of this trade. He was involved in 51 slave voyages between 1750 and 1768.
Parr and another man named John Welch owned a slave ship called Briton. In 1762, this ship sailed to the Kingdom of Whydah in West Africa. In 1763, while the Briton was anchored in the Bight of Benin, it was surrounded by 10 war canoes. These canoes belonged to Captain Lemma Lemma, an African leader who captured people to sell them to slave traders.
The captain of the Briton, William Bagshaw, had spent 10 days with Lemma Lemma, offering him food, drinks, and gifts. This was to encourage Lemma Lemma to capture people for him. One day, three people in a canoe came sailing down the River Formosa, unaware of the danger. Lemma Lemma ordered his crew to capture them and bring them to the Briton. The three people were an elderly father, his adult son, and his daughter.
Captain Bagshaw agreed to buy the two younger people but refused to buy the old man. After the sale was complete, Lemma Lemma sent the old man back to his war canoe. He was then killed, and his body was thrown into the water. His son and daughter were taken to Rappahannock in Virginia, where they were sold into slavery.
The African Company of Merchants
Edward Parr was a member of the African Company of Merchants. This group worked to support and promote the slave trade. Their first meeting in Liverpool was on July 14, 1777. The committee met every Monday morning at Liverpool Town Hall. Other members included William Gregson, John Parr (his cousin), Thomas Staniforth, and George Case.
Ships and War
On February 13, 1759, Edward Parr and 44 other Liverpool merchants and shipowners wrote a letter to Robert Williamson of Williamson's Liverpool Advertiser. At the time, Britain was fighting in the Seven Years' War. They asked him not to print a list of ships sailing from the port. They believed that printing such lists had caused "very bad consequences" during the war, likely because it helped enemy ships find their targets.
Whaling Ventures
In 1749, a French ship called Le Lion D'Or was captured by a Liverpool privateer (a private ship authorized to attack enemy ships). It was then turned into a whaling vessel and renamed the Golden Lion. This ship became Liverpool's first whaling vessel. In 1750, the Golden Lion sailed from Liverpool to hunt whales near Greenland. Edward Parr and other slave traders invested in this ship, taking a share of its profits.
