Samuel Samo
| |
|---|---|
| Conviction(s) | feloniously dealing in slaves under the Slave Trade Felony Act 1811 |
| Criminal penalty | pardoned |
Samuel Samo (fl. 1811–1812) was a Dutch slave trader who was the first person to be prosecuted under the British Slave Trade Felony Act 1811.[1]
Samuel Samo was the uncle of John Samo, a Dutch shopkeeper who served as King's Advocate and Member of His Majesty's Colonial Council of Sierra Leone. Samo was also a colleague of William Henry Leigh. On one voyage, 500 Africans died.[2][3]
Samo was based in the Îles de Los, a group of islands of Conakry in modern-day Guinea.[4] He was seized along with Charles Hickson from there in early 1812 and taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone to be put on trial.[4]
The trial was held under the auspices of the Vice admiralty courtinSierra Leone.[1] Robert Thorpe was the presiding judge.[3] Samo was charged with five counts of slave-trading between August 1811 and January 1812.[1] Samo was convicted but given a royal pardon by Governor Charles William Maxwell.[3] The convict was enjoined to never again engage in slave trading.[3] Two other slave traders were convicted in Sierra Leone between April and June 1812. William Tufft was sentenced to three years of hard labour, and Joseph Peters was sentenced to 7 years of transportation.
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