Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846), Slavery abolitionist
Sitter in 11 portraits
Thomas Clarkson devoted his life to abolitionism. His An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species (1786) brought him into association with Granville Sharp, William Wilberforce and other opponents of slavery; Clarkson joined them in forming a society for the abolition of the slave trade. He visited British ports to collect facts for his pamphlet A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable Consequences of Its Abolition (1787), and the evidence that he gathered was used in the antislavery campaign led by Wilberforce in Parliament. In 1807, a bill for the abolition of the slave trade finally was passed, and the next year Clarkson's two-volume history of the trade was published.
by Carl Frederik von Breda
oil on canvas, 1788
NPG 235
The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840
by Benjamin Robert Haydon
oil on canvas, 1841
On display in Room 20 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 599
by John Young, after Carl Frederik von Breda
mezzotint, published 1789
NPG D33312
after Alfred Edward Chalon
mezzotint, (1824)
NPG D1468
by Charles Turner, after Alfred Edward Chalon
mezzotint, published 1828
NPG D33313
by John Cochran, after Samuel Lane
stipple engraving, published 1836
NPG D2085
by Thomas Anthony Dean, after Henry Room
stipple engraving, published 1839
NPG D33314
'The Abolition of the Slave Trade' (The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840)
by John Alfred Vinter, after Benjamin Robert Haydon
lithograph, circa 1846-1864 (1841)
NPG D23546
'The Abolition of the Slave Trade' (The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840)
by John Alfred Vinter, after Benjamin Robert Haydon
lithograph, circa 1846-1864 (1841)
NPG D20516
Heroes of the Slave Trade Abolition
by Unknown artist
wood engraving, mid-late 19th century
NPG D9338
'The Abolition of the Slave Trade' (The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840)
by John Alfred Vinter, after Benjamin Robert Haydon
lithograph, circa 1846-1864 (1841)
NPG D32033
Thomas Clarkson (grandson)
Links
Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
Category
Social Welfare and Reform
Groups
Anti-Slavery Society
Philanthropists
Place
Cambridgeshire
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