Swanzy and Co.

Description: James Swanzy of Swanzy and Co. served as a surgeon and later in command of several Forts owned and operated by the African Company of Merchants in the Gold Coast between 1789 and 1799. He was in command of Winnebah, Appolonia, Dixcove and Succondee where he both oversaw slaving operations and actively purchased and traded enslaved people for the Company and for his own profit claiming that 9/10ths of all branches of trade during that time were devoted to slavery. He was later appointed to the Committee of the African Company, overseeing its operations from London.In 1799, Swanzy returned to Britain and settled in London. By 1801 James Swanzy was a Subscriber at Lloyd's, and between 1801 and 1807 he became the sole or joint owner of 4 slaving vessels which conducted 8 voyages, trafficking an estimated 1,100 people. In addition, the Clagett risk book lists at least 6 slaving voyages brokered by Swanzy in 1807, the final year of the legal British trade in enslaved people. Amongst these is the ship the Spy, a vessel previously owned by Swanzy himself which was sold to Anthony Calvert, one of the most significant traffickers of enslaved people in London, and fellow Lloyd's Subscriber and member of the London Committee of the African Company of Merchants. Swanzy was later appointed to the Committee of the African Company, overseeing its operations from London.
Total Number of Slaving Voyages for which they are responsible according to slavevoyages.org: 8
Estimated Enslaved Captives Trafficked Throughout Career according to slavevoyages.org: 1100
Details: Great Britain., Report from the Select Committee on Papers Relating to the African Forts., 219 p. ([London: House of Commons, 1816), 24, //catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100654895.