Salford Local History Library has a good collection of books relating to the North West generally as well as a good collection of records pertaining, as you would expect, to Salford. The books that I like to look through are part of a series purchased by subscription many years ago and, as such, some volumes relate to places a little further afield, such as Liverpool and Cheshire.
On my visit last week I found a book which records letters sent to the Customs House in Liverpool in the eighteenth century. Fortunately these books are well indexed and I quickly found a reference to John Salthouse, who was part owner of the 'Bee', a square-sterned snow of 45 tons, built at Liverpool in 1752; the master was John Newton. This is the account of the 'Bee's' activities sometime after the letter was written, included in the book as a footnote:
"The Bee, the third of Newton’s Liverpool ships, had been built and fitted out by Mannesty for the notorious slave captain, the “Old Blasphemer”. Newton, however, was taken suddenly ill and had to resign command the day before she sailed. On this, her maiden voyage, she was cut off by the slaves and run ashore, and the master mate and surgeon were all killed. Newton joined the Customs service in Liverpool, and later the church, to become the noted evangelist, slaver reformer and, with poor Cowper, the author of the Olney hymns".
I have no idea, yet, whether this John Salthouse is related to my family and, whilst preferring not to be associated with a slaving ship, history cannot be re-written. The stories of my ancestors, whatever those stories may turn out to be, are stories of their lives, not of my life.
