This identification band was locked on to an enslaved person’s wrist when they were sent off the plantation, to conduct an errand such as deliver a letter, herd livestock or transport sugar. While restricted in their freedom of movement and action by such identification bands, leaving the plantations also provided opportunities to circulate news and organise rebellion.

This object is engraved with the phrase ‘S. Bosquanet Layton 1746’, which probably refers to the name of the planter and plantation to which it was connected, rather than to the name of the enslaved person who wore it.