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The British Admiralty Records as a Source for African History
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 May 2014
Extract
What is more characteristically English than the Navy?
The relationship between naval power and British sovereignty is one of long standing in British foreign policy. This was especially evident in the nineteenth century, when Britain achieved almost unchallenged global naval pre-eminence following the Napoleonic Wars, keeping order in a world that British commercial interests were creating. As a consequence, the traditional role of the navy as a national defense force was changing dramatically to that of an international policeman on the one hand and surrogate statesman on the other. These two roles were generally most pronounced in the emerging tropical areas of trade in Asia, Africa, and South America.
It is in relation to Africa that this essay is concerned, and over the course of the nineteenth century, the influence of the Royal Navy on African societies was an evolving, but considerable, force--as surveyor, policeman, employer, ally, adversary, diplomat, and enforcer. On the whole, Britain's Africa policy throughout much of the century was based on the suppression of the slave trade, while simultaneously providing protection for British citizens promoting “legitimate” commercial interests.
Since the trade in slaves from Africa was chiefly a maritime enterprise, its navy became the chief instrument for implementing these foreign policy objectives, a role that shifted in the second half of the century to a more direct imperialist posture.
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- Copyright © African Studies Association 1986
References
Notes
1. Adams, W.H.D., England on the Sea (London, 1885).Google Scholar
2. Numerous, but limited, studies have been written about the Royal Navy of the nineteenth century. For a discussion of British naval policies and practices during this period, the following are helpful: Bartlett, C.J., Great Britain and Sea Power, 1815-1853 (London, 1963)Google Scholar; Lloyd, Christopher, The Nation and the Navy (London, 1954)Google Scholar; idem., The British Seamen, 1200-1860 (London, 1968); Graham, G.S., Great Britain in the Indian Ocean (London, 1967)Google Scholar; Rasor, E.L., Reform in the Royal Navy (Hamden, CT, 1976)Google Scholar; Preston, Anthony and Major, John, Send a Gunboat! (London, 1967)Google Scholar; Lewis, Michael, The Navy in Transition, 1814-1864 (London, 1965)Google Scholar; and Keevil, J.J., Medicine and the Navy, 1200-1900 (4 vols.: Edinburgh, 1957–1961).Google Scholar
3. Few major studies have been undertaken on the Royal Navy in Africa. Among those that have been are Lloyd, Christopher, The Navy and the Slave Trade (London, 1949)Google Scholar and Search for the Niger (London, 1973)Google Scholar; Colomb, P.H., Slave-Catching in the Indian Ocean (New York, 1969)Google Scholar; Mbaeyi, Paul M., British Military and Naval Forces in West African History, 1807-1874 (London, 1978)Google Scholar; Ward, W.E.F., The Royal Navy and the Slavers (London, 1969)Google Scholar; and Mathieson, W.L., Great Britain and the Slave Trade, 1839-1865 (London, 1929).Google Scholar
4. Rodger, N.A.M., Naval Records for Genealogists (London, 1984), 2.Google Scholar
5. Ibid., 3.
6. Ibid.
7. Scholars interested in acquiring more information on these records can consult Rodger, Naval Records, or consult the PRO handout, Reference Guide 21, which can be requested from the staff at the Reference Desk, Kew.