18th century – 18th century
Calabar, southeastern Nigeria
Antera Duke’s diary is a personal record by a leading Calabar trader, written in pidgin English and covering an extended period. Surviving extracts for 1785–1787 provide a vivid account of daily life in an important slave port. The original manuscript was destroyed during wartime bombing, but copies preserved portions of its contents.
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The Story
Antera Duke was a leading trader in Calabar whose diary offers an unusually direct view of life in one of West Africa’s important slave ports. Written in pidgin English, the record covered a long period rather than a single episode. Its value lies in the ordinary transactions and experiences that could disappear from formal political narratives.
The surviving material is incomplete. The original manuscript was destroyed in Scotland by bombing during the Second World War, but extracts covering 1785 to 1787 were preserved in copy. These fragments nevertheless retain enough detail to illuminate the rhythms of commerce, sociability, and daily life in Calabar during the late eighteenth century.
The diary is treated as a distinctive historical source because it was produced by an African participant in the commercial world it describes. Its language and personal form complement diplomatic correspondence, official records, and later narratives. At the same time, the loss of the original and the survival of only extracts limit the scope of what can be reconstructed from it.
18th century – 18th century
Calabar, southeastern Nigeria
Antera Duke’s diary is a personal record by a leading Calabar trader, written in pidgin English and covering an extended period. Surviving extracts for 1785–1787 provide a vivid account of daily life in an important slave port. The original manuscript was destroyed during wartime bombing, but copies preserved portions of its contents.
Continue exploring
The Story
Antera Duke was a leading trader in Calabar whose diary offers an unusually direct view of life in one of West Africa’s important slave ports. Written in pidgin English, the record covered a long period rather than a single episode. Its value lies in the ordinary transactions and experiences that could disappear from formal political narratives.
The surviving material is incomplete. The original manuscript was destroyed in Scotland by bombing during the Second World War, but extracts covering 1785 to 1787 were preserved in copy. These fragments nevertheless retain enough detail to illuminate the rhythms of commerce, sociability, and daily life in Calabar during the late eighteenth century.
The diary is treated as a distinctive historical source because it was produced by an African participant in the commercial world it describes. Its language and personal form complement diplomatic correspondence, official records, and later narratives. At the same time, the loss of the original and the survival of only extracts limit the scope of what can be reconstructed from it.