Slavery in the British and French Caribbean in the context of French colonial empires

Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Codrington (c. 1668 – 7 April 1710) was an English Army officer, planter and colonial administrator who served as governor of the Leeward Islands from 1699 to 1704. Born on Barbados into the planter class, he inherited one of the largest sugar plantations in the colony. Codrington travelled to Europe during the late-17th century and served in the Nine Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession, taking part in numerous engagements.

After dying in 1710, his will and testament established and endowed Codrington College with his estates in Barbados and Barbuda. Codrington's will also endowed the Codrington Library at All Souls College, Oxford with a gift of books and money. In November 2020, his name was removed from the library as a result of the George Floyd protests due to Codrington's ownership of slaves.

Sir William Beckford (December 1709 – 21 June 1770) was a British Whig politician who twice served as Lord Mayor of London in 1762 and 1769. One of the best known political figures in Georgian era London, his vast wealth derived from the sugar plantations and hundreds of slaves he owned in the British colony of Jamaica. In Britain, Beckford was a supporter of the Whig party, including Prime Minister William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. He also publicly supported progressive causes and frequently championed the London public.