Cape Colony
Around 1795 Alexander embarked on a voyage to visit his clergyman brother, William Tennant (1758-1813), in India. His brother was emerging as one of the foremost experts on the sub-continent, a reputation cemented by the publication of Indian Recreations in 1808. Spotting opportunities in the Cape during his journey, Alexander remained there and took up a partnership with Donald Trail. The firm of Tennant and Trail then set about transporting convicts to Australia as well as moving slaves from Mozambique to be sold at the Cape to members of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). These dealings were frequently on the very edge of legality and it was alleged that, following the British Slave Trade Act of 1807, Tennant used a Portuguese flag to further his business. The Governor of the Cape, General Baird, had agreed to allow the sale of several hundred slaves before abolition but as Tennant took delivery after that date many of those slaves were left to fend for themselves on Robben Island. In 1801 Tennant was involved in a High Court law suit over financial irregularities regarding ships that he had bought acting as middle man between a Brazilian merchant, Marcos da Costa Guimarains and Admiral Cornwallis, the British Commander in False Bay.
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Famous quotes containing the words cape and/or colony:
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