On 19th May 1793 the land for Holy Trinity Church, Wavertree, was conveyed from Edward Hind to 13 men, who became the Trustees of the church. Two of them were the Revd Thomas Dannett (clergyman) and John Leech (joiner). Almost all of the remaining 11 (mostly described as 'gentleman' or 'merchant') were involved in slavery or the slave trade to some extent, as described below. [Addresses are taken from Gore's Liverpool Directory for 1790].

John Backhouse. The Backhouse family were involved in around 240 slave voyages as captain or co-owners between 1768 and 1807. Of these voyages John was directly involved in 99 and John Jr was involved in 2. John Backhouse's address is only given as 'Wavertree'.
Peter Baker. Involved in 49 slave voyages, as owner or co-owner, between 1767 and 1788. His address is given as 'Mosley Hill'.
Edward Philip Grayson. Between 1765 and 1800 an Edward Grayson was involved in 20 slave voyages as co-owner. This is a 35 years' time range so it is possible that there were two Edward Graysons: father and son? Edward Philip was a wine and spirit merchant who lived at 13 Wolstenholme Square.
John Hayes. Members of the Hayes family were involved in slave trading from 1726 to 1807. A John Hayes is listed as a captain on 5 slave voyages from 1801 to 1807. These voyages would have made him wealthy in his own right but would a ship's captain who was often away from home be suitable as a trustee? It is unlikely that either of the John Hayes listed in Gore's 1790 are this John Hayes.
Henry Littledale. Does not appear on my database. Nor is he listed in the 1790 Gore's.
Thomas Moore. Appears as a co-owner in 5 slave voyages - 3 in 1798 and 2 in 1799. Even as a co-owner, Moore must have had considerable capital to be able to be involved in 5 voyages in two years. Probably the Thomas Moore who Gore's 1790 lists as a mercer and draper, whose address is simply given as 'Wavertree', but he had a shop at 3 Brunswick Street.
Thomas Parke. (Pictured below). Involved as a co-owner in 63 slave voyages between 1779 and 1800. Parke was a linen merchant and was involved in shipping, insurance and banking as well. His address is given as 'Highfield' with a counting house in Chorley Street.
William Pole. Involved in 32 slave voyages between 1763 and 1790. William Poole's address is given in Gore's 1790 as 7 Old Church Yard - if this is the Old Church Yard of St Nicholas Church then that is likely to be his counting house or office.
Christopher Shaw. The Shaw family were heavily involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Christopher was involved as a co-owner in respect of 8 voyages between 1774 and 1788. Gore's 1790 has Christopher Shaw as a Gentleman of 'Wavertree'.
Richard Watt. A very wealthy West India merchant. There were, I think, three generations with the same name and the same can be applied to all three. Richard Watt is shown in Gore's 1790 as a merchant of 20 Gradwell Street, Hanover Street - this would suggest a corner property. Watt lived at Speke Hall but would have almost certainly had a town house as well - maybe the same as his counting house?
John Wright. There were two John Wrights involved in slave voyages: one who was involved as a co-owner on 7 voyages between 1763 and 1770, and another who was involved in 3 voyages between 1783 and 1784. Out of a number of John Wrights in Gore's 1790 perhaps the most likely is John Wright the merchant and agent to the Manchester Old Quay Company with an address of 1 Houghton Street, Clayton Square.

Editor's note: When this Newsletter was first drafted, we were looking forward to a talk by David Hearn on 'Liverpool and the Transatlantic Slave Trade'. When things return to normal, we very much hope that David will be able to give us that talk. Meanwhile - prompted by a Facebook claim that 11 out of the original 13 trustees of Holy Trinity Church in Wavertree had links with slavery - we asked him to send us some notes as a follow-up to a previous Newsletter article (Aug.2016) and as a 'taster' for his future talk.