History of Wigan   (Help with ancient and recent history.)

Some eye opening figures there.

From 1695 to 1807, 5,300 voyages from Liverpool transported almost one and a half million slaves to the New World. By 1787, thirty seven of the forty one members of Liverpool Council were involved in slavery. Further, all of Liverpool's twenty Mayors who held office between 1787 and 1807 were involved. Liverpool's net proceeds from the African trade in 1783-93 are said to have been £12,294,116, which today would have a relative value of between £1.2 and £87.0 billion.

The Slave Trade Act of 1807 abolished the slave trade in the British Empire, but not slavery itself. It was not until 26 years later that slavery was abolished. With the Abolition of Slavery Act of 1833, James Lindsay, the 7th Earl of Balcarres and Baron of Wigan, was paid £14,473.15s.6d compensation for 895 slaves in Jamaica (between £1.1 and £48.2 million in today’s money). The Earl built Haigh Hall between 1827 and 1840 on the site of the ancient manor house.

I'll get your Standish Collieries book back to you...soon