How did money from slavery help develop Greater Manchester?

The Buckley family of Oldham

Archive collections in the north west provide many examples of the regional import of slave-grown goods and the export of British manufactures to colonies that ran on slave labour.

Merchants and mill owners

Oldham Local Studies and Archives contains documents dating from 1820-1860 relating to John Buckley and Sons, manufacturers and merchants of Saddleworth, Lancashire. The Buckleys owned mills at Linfitts and Broadhead.

The letters in the Oldham collections show that the Buckleys were buying slave-grown cotton from Bahia in Brazil and there are also invoices for cases of sugar. We also know that they were exporting woollen garments known as cassimeres to Brazil. The Saddleworth Museum contains further documentation relating to the Buckleys' business as well as banknotes associated with their firm.