1838: 1 & 2 Victoria c.39: An Act for carrying into effect a Convention of Accession of the Hans Towns to Two Conventions with the King of the French, for suppressing the Slave Trade.
[27th July 1838.]
[Convention between Great Britain and France.]
WHEREAS a Convention was concluded between His late Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of the French, for rendering more effectual the Means of suppressing the Criminal Traffic called the Slave Trade, and signed at Paris on the Thirtieth Day of November in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one: And whereas by the Ninth Article of the said Convention the High Contracting Parties to the said Treaty agreed to invite the other Maritime Powers to accede to it within as short a Period as possible:
[Supplementary Convention.]
And whereas a Supplementary Convention was concluded between Their said Majesties, for the more effectual Suppression of the Traffic in Slaves, and signed at Paris on the Twenty-second Day of March in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three: And whereas an Act passed in the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth,
[3 & 4 W. 4. C. 72.]
intituled An Act for carrying into effect Two Conventions with the King of the French for suppressing the Slave Trade:
[Convention between France and the Hans Towns.]
And whereas a Convention was concluded between His Majesty the King of the French and the Hans Towns containing the Accession of the Hans Towns to the said before Two Conventions between Great Britain and France for the more effectual Suppression of the Slave Trade, and signed at Hamburgh on the Ninth Day of June One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, containing as follows:
Article 1. — The Senates of the Free Hanseatic Cities of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburgh accede to the Conventions concluded and signed on the Thirtieth of November One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and on the Twenty-second of March One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, between His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of the French, relating to the Suppression of the Slave Trade, as well as to the Annex of the latter Convention containing Instructions to Cruizers, excepting the Reservations and Modifications expressed in the Second, Third, and Fourth Articles herein after given, which Articles shall be considered additional to the said Conventions and to the Annex above mentioned, and excepting the Differences which necessarily result from the Situation of the Hanseatic Cities as Parties acceding to the Conventions in the Question; after their Conclusion His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the French, having accepted the said Accession, all the Articles of these Two Conventions, and all the Conditions of the said Annex, shall in consequence be held to have been concluded and signed in the same Manner as the present Convention, directly between His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty the King of the French, and the Senates of the Free Hanseatic Cities of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburgh; Their said Majesties and the Senates of the Free Hanseatic Cities engage and promise reciprocally to fulfil faithfully, excepting the Reservations and Modifications hereby stipulated, all the Clauses, Conditions, and Obligations which result therefrom; and in order to prevent any Uncertainty, it has been agreed that the above-mentioned Conventions, and the Annex of the latter, containing Instructions to Cruizers, should be inserted here Word for Word in the said Convention of Accession, which were accordingly inserted Word for Word therein.
Article 2. — It is agreed, with reference to the Fifth Article of the Instructions annexed to the supplementary Convention of March the Twenty-second One thousand eight hundred and thirty three, that all Vessels bearing the Flag of Lubeck, and which appear by their Papers to belong to Lubeck, which may be detained, in execution of the Conventions herein above transcribed, by the Cruizers of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of His Majesty the King of the French, employed on the Stations of America or Africa, or of Madagascar, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Travemunde; all Vessels bearing the Flag of Bremen and which appear by their Papers to belong to Bremen, which may in like Manner be detained, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Bremerhaven; and all Vessels bearing the Flag of Hamburgh, and which appear by their Papers to belong to Hamburgh, which may in like Manner be detained, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Cuxhaven; in case the Navigation of the Baltic should be interrupted or impracticable, the Three Senates agree to fix Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven as the Ports to which Lubeck Vessels detained as above mentioned may be conducted or sent.
Article 3. — Whereas the landing, at the above-mentioned Ports, of Slaves who are found on board Vessels bearing the Hanseatic Flag, and which appear by their Papers to belong to the said Hanseatic Cities, or to any one of them, might be attended with great Inconvenience; it is agreed, That the Slaves on board of any such Vessel detained by a British or French Cruizer shall be previously landed at the Place or Port the nearest (be it British or French) to which a Slave Vessel under the Flag of One of of those Two Nations, found and detained under similar Circumstances, would, according to the above-mentioned Conventions, be conducted or sent to; the British Ports of Bathurst on the Gambia, Port Royal in Jamaica, the Cape of Good Hope, and Demerara, as well as the French Ports of La Goree, Martinique, Bourbon, Cayenne, shall be considered as respectively fixed on for this Purpose for the British and French Cruizers in Africa, the West Indies, Madagascar, and the Brazils.
Article 4. — If the Senates of the Free Hanseatic Cities should not deem it expedient to fit out Cruizers of their own for the Repression of the Trade, they nevertheless engage to furnish the special Authority or Warrants required by the Fifth Article of the Convention of the Thirtieth of November One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, to the Commanders of British and French Cruizers, as soon as the Names and the Number thereof are notified to them.
And whereas it is expedient that the Provisions of the said recited Act of the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth should be applied to the said Convention of Accession of the Hans Towns, signed at Hamburgh on the Ninth Day of June One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, for the carrying into execution the said Convention and Articles for the more effectual Suppression of the Slave Trade Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,
[Provisions of the recited Act to extend to the Convention of Accession of the Hans Towns.]
That all Clauses, Provisions, Powers, and Authorities contained in, and all Penalties and Forfeitures imposed by the said recited Act of the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, shall be applied and put in force for the Purpose of carrying into execution the said Convention, and the several Articles, Stipulations, and Regulations therein respectively contained, except so far as any of such Powers and Authorities are altered by this Act, as fully and effectually as if the same were re-enacted in this Act, as to such Convention and all Matters therein respectively contained.
[Ports to which the captured Vessels bearing the several Flags shall be taken]
II. And be it enacted, That, in pursuance of the said Second Article of the Convention of the Hans Towns, all Vessels bearing the Flag of Lubeck, and which appear by their Papers to belong to Lubeck, which , may be detained, in execution of the said Convention of the Years One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one and One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three respectively, by the Cruizers of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, employed on the Stations of America, of Africa, or of Madagascar, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Travemunde; and all Vessels bearing the Flag of Bremen, and which appear by their Papers to belong to Bremen, which may in like Manner be detained, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Bremerhaven; and all Vessels bearing the Flag of Hamburgh, and which appear by their Papers to belong to Hamburgh, which may in like Manner be detained, shall be conducted or sent to the Port of Cuxhaven; and in case the Navigation of the Baltic should be interrupted or impracticable, to the Ports of Bremerhaven or Cuxhaven.
[Slaves on board Vessels bearing the Flag of Hanseatic Cities to be taken to certain Ports.]
III. And be it enacted, That, in pursuance of the said Third Article of the Convention of the said Hans Towns, Slaves who are found on board Vessels bearing the Hanseatic Flag, and which appear by their Papers to belong to the Hanseatic Cities or to any one of them, detained by a British Cruizer, shall be previously landed at the Place or Port the nearest (be it British) to which a Slave Vessel under the Flag of One of those Two Nations, found and detained under similar Circumstances, would, according to the above-mentioned Conventions, be conducted or sent; videlicet, the British Ports of Bathurst on the Gambia, Port Royal in Jamaica, the Cape of Good Hope, and Demerara.