Flag of the slaver ‘Concepcio’

This flag is hand-sewn and has a central red band flanked by narrower cream-coloured sections. There is no hoist, but a cord has been tacked onto one edge. A hand-written inscription on the top-left corner reads: ‘The “Flag” of the Slave Ship “Conception” captured off the East Coast of Africa by Her Majesty’s Man of War Cruizer “Wye” With 397 Slaves on board, valued at £41,000 in Cuba. This flag was presented to Robinson Boustead Surgeon H M’s Army at St Helena in August 1862 by the Commandant and Owner of the “Conception” and her Her [sic] Human Cargo named Alfred Henri Carmo.’

Naval records and court proceedings confirm that HMS Wye, under the command of Valentine Gardner Roberts, intercepted a slave ship called the ‘Concepcio’ (anglicized as ‘Conception’ in the flag’s inscription), under the command of Pedro Juan Capo, on 25 June 1862 about a mile off the coast of Angola, close to Mangue Grande. Upon boarding the ‘Concepcio’, Roberts discovered that the ship had 304 enslaved men, women and children on board (not 397 as mistakenly stated on the flag). The ‘Concepcio’ had sailed from Matanzas in Cuba at the end of January, arriving first at the Gallinas River in Sierra Leone, before sailing to Mangue Grande, where the enslaved people were embarked. The ship was bound for, in Roberts words, ‘any port in Cuba most convenient for landing’.

The Wye escorted the ‘Concepcio’ to St Helena, where the case was tried in the Vice-Admiralty Court and the enslaved people were brought ashore. Eighteen had died on the voyage to St Helena and a further five died before the case went to court. The 281 survivors were ‘condemned to Her Majesty’ and assigned the legal status of ‘Liberated Africans’. This term was a misnomer: in reality, genuine freedom remained a distant dream for ‘Liberated Africans’, who were involuntarily subjected to indentures and conscriptions.

It is likely that a significant percentage of the survivors from the ‘Concepcio’ died in the days and months after their arrival on St Helena. They would have been housed in the reception depots in Rupert’s Valley, which had an average mortality rate of 30%.

Those who did not die were most likely sent on to Jamaica, Trinidad and other British Caribbean colonies as indentured plantation workers. Twenty-one of their names were recorded phonetically by British officials on St Helena in February 1863 (see CO 247/97 at the National Archives). At the time that their names were recorded, these individuals were receiving hospital treatment on the island. Ten were subsequently sent to British Caribbean colonies (five on board the Midlothian, which left St Helena for British Guiana on 16 April 1863, and another five on board the Barbara Campbell, which left St Helena for Grenada on 22 May 1863) and a boy, whose name was recorded as ‘Cheecah’, was employed as a servant of Reverend Robert Gray, Acting Master of the Government Head School on St Helena. Seven were still receiving hospital treatment on 11 July 1863, the date at which the list was last updated, and three had passed away. (Further details below).

From the establishment of the Vice-Admiralty Court on St Helena in 1840 to its closure in 1872, a total of 24,221 African people were legally emancipated on the island. The legacy of this continues to be felt today. The ‘Concepcio’ was one of five vessels tried at St Helena in 1862.

Robinson Boustead (1832–1916), who is named in the inscription as the recipient of the flag, was an assistant surgeon in the Bombay Medical Department of the British Army. He was working as a medical officer on St Helena at the time of the capture of the ‘Concepcio’ capture. His duties included monitoring the health of the ‘Liberated Africans’ on the island.

According to the inscription, Boustead received the flag from Alfred Henri Carmo, ‘the Commandant and Owner of the “Conception”’. The official naval reports, however, state that the owner of the ‘Concepcio’ was not on board and was instead represented by a supercargo (i.e. an agent). This individual is not named in the records, but it is probable that he was the Alfred Henri Carmo of the flag’s inscription.

The flag is not a national ensign, nor does it appear to be a registered merchant flag. Instead, it seems to be some kind of unofficial flag. This accords with the naval report of the capture, which stated that the ‘Concepcio’ ‘showed no colours, and delivered up no papers, and officially had neither name nor nationality’.

The Concepcio had sailed from and was returning to Cuba, which was at the time a Spanish colony. Slave-ownership remained legal in Cuba until 1886, despite Spain having committed decades earlier to abolish enslavement in its dominions. Britain did, however, have an agreement with Spain that allowed British anti-slavery patrols to search any ship sailing under the Spanish flag that they had reason to suspect may be carrying enslaved people. By the mid-nineteenth-century, Britain had similar agreements with numerous other nations and imperial powers.

Against this backdrop, slave ships increasingly operated outside of official systems. With no registration papers or national colours, the ‘Concepcio’ exemplifies this trend. Perhaps intended to confuse the authorities or as a secret signal for others involved in the trade, its unofficial ‘flag’ is a reminder of the persistence of enslavement in the face of mounting legal obstacles.

Register of Liberated Africans from the 'Concepcio' and their situations as of 11 July 1863 (Source: TNA CO 247/97; all names were recorded phonetically by British officials)

In hospital on St Helena
Kesanga (male)
Karvea (male)
Moocanda (male)
Coombee (male)
Soombeezah (female)
Marsanga (female)
Medea (female)

Employed on St Helena
Cheecah (male) – employed as servant of Reverend Robert Gray at the Government Head School of St Helena

Left St Helena in the 'Midlothian' for British Guiana, 16 April 1863
Cheecah (male)
Meeallah (male)
Pooloo (male)
Honuda (male)
Bugalla (female)

Left St Helena in the 'Barbara Campbell' for Grenada, 22 May 1863
Looakennee (male)
Chumboo (male)
Coondeeatee (male)
Mavinga (male)
Mucooba (male)

Died on St Helena
Zuza (male) – died on 10 February 1863
Marshee (male) – died on 19 March 1863
Kaitar (female) – died on 15 April 1863