Robert Wedderburn, born 1762
author of ‘horrors of slavery’
Robert Wedderburn was a Jamaican-born Unitarian, ultra-radical leader, and anti-slavery advocate in early 19th-century London. He was born in Jamaica. His mother, Rosanna, had been born in Africa, and was enslaved. Wedderburn's father, James Wedderburn, was born in Scotland. Wedderburn's grandfather's, Sir John Wedderburn, 5th Baronet of Blackness, execution for treason resulted in his father and uncle, John Wedderburn of Ballendean, fleeing Scotland. James Wedderburn settled in Kingston, making a living first, as a doctor, and then as a sugar plantation owner. While in Jamaica he had children by several different enslaved women. Politically influenced by Thomas Spence, Robert Wedderburn was an impassioned speaker and became de facto leader of the Spencean Society in 1817 after the nominal leaders were arrested on suspicion of high treason. Robert Wedderburn published fiery periodicals advocating republican revolution, using violence if necessary, to bring about redistribution of property in Britain and the West Indies. In 1824, he published an anti-slavery book entitled Horrors of Slavery, printed by William Dugdale.
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