The Trial of Captain John Kimber, for the Murder of Two Female Negro Slaves, on Board the Recovery, African Slave Ship

In June 1792 the Admiralty Sessions convened at the Old Bailey to hear the shocking case of a ship’s captain accused of murdering two enslaved women aboard his vessel, the Recovery. The proceedings unfold against a backdrop of heated public debate over the Atlantic slave trade, as politicians and reformers increasingly questioned its morality.

Witnesses, including the ship’s surgeon, recount the brutal treatment of a teenage girl suffering from illness, describing flogging, forced hoisting by pulleys, and a slow decline that ended in death. The prosecution paints a vivid picture of cruelty, while the defense grapples with legal definitions of murder on a ship operating under the law of the sea.

Beyond the courtroom drama, the trial offers a rare glimpse into early attempts to hold slave‑traders accountable and reflects the growing tide of abolitionist sentiment in Britain. Listeners will hear the stark language of 18th‑century legal rhetoric and the human stories that sparked a nation’s conscience.