Records of Millions of Enslaved People Digitized
Ancestry and University College London digitized records from 20 former British colonies.
Updated on Oct. 6, 2026 in African-American
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Ancestry and the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London have digitized nearly 4 million records of enslaved people. The archive provides searchable access to historical documents created between 1813 and 1840.
Why it matters
This digital release aims to help descendants investigate their family histories and restore the humanity of individuals documented in official government registers. It serves as a tool for tracing lineage across the African diaspora, including in the US and Latin America.
The collection includes 300,000 pages of documents and identifies 10,500 people who invested in slave trafficking. Researchers have already successfully utilized the material to trace family lines in Jamaica across six generations.
The players
Ancestry
Ancestry is a prominent genealogy company that provides online platforms for users to research their family history.
University College London
University College London is a public research university that houses the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery.
The details
The British government originally created these registers after the 1807 abolition of the transatlantic slave trade to monitor enslaved populations and prevent illegal trafficking. The searchable records include names, physical descriptions, family relationships, and details on births, deaths, and ownership transfers.
Timeline
The British government abolished the transatlantic slave trade in 1807.
The enslavement registers document the years 1813 to 1840.
Culture Shift
This project represents a major shift toward utilizing digital archives to address historical silences within the African diaspora. By surfacing records previously locked in physical registers, the initiative aligns with broader global movements to digitize and democratize access to colonial-era history.
The archive is now accessible online for free to those with an Ancestry account. Users can search by name or location to locate ancestors and document family relationships that span across multiple generations.
The takeaway
This digital collection allows descendants to reclaim personal histories that were suppressed by colonial-era documentation. Users can search these records to rebuild family trees and bridge gaps in their ancestral knowledge.
Further reading
Discover more about historical archives and lineage research in our African-American section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Caribbean Camera.
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