We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Professor Trevor Burnard. A world-leading historian, Trevor undertook critical research focused on Atlantic and imperial history and slavery in the Caribbean, America and Africa during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A member of the editorial board of the leading journal Slavery and Abolition, he was one of the foremost experts on Atlantic slavery.
Trevor joined the University of Hull in 2019, continuing his career-long interest in plantation societies in the Americas and their impact on global economic systems and connections to eighteenth-century modernity. His many areas of focus included slavery, social history and demography, imperialism, economic and business history and gender. His pioneering work on the slave owner Thomas Thistlewood revealed the depths of suffering inflicted upon enslaved men, women and children in the Caribbean.
Recently his works have focused on raising scholarly and popular understanding about the pivotal role of the enslaved in ending Atlantic slavery. The monographs, edited collections, and peer reviewed journal articles he published in the last five years, all of the highest quality, have all cemented his global reputation. His work has advanced earlier studies in plantation slavery in Jamaica, expanded knowledge of the voices of the enslaved in plantation societies, and revealed the British royal family’s involvement in Atlantic slavery.
Trevor served as Director of the Wilberforce Institute from November 2019 to June 2024, while holding the Wilberforce Chair in Slavery. His leadership of the Institute has brought with it significant funding awards from prestigious research bodies including the AHRC, the Australian Research Council, and the Leverhulme Trust, as well as numerous prizes for the far-reaching impact of the Institute’s work.
His research expertise was central to the Institute playing a key role in exploring historic slavery links with the Scott Trust, the owners of the Guardian Media Group, which led to an apology by the Trust and a programme of restorative justice, totaling over £10 million through the next decade.
Trevor’s influence is also evident in the recent extension of the Wilberforce Institute’s partnership work with the AHRC sponsored Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy Evidence Centre, as well as the Institute's ongoing impactful work connected to Modern Slavery.
He will be greatly missed by all those who had the privilege to work with him during his time at Hull. Trevor was an immensely generous scholar who will be remembered by scholars around the world for his friendship, support and collaboration. He gave unstintingly to all who worked with him and as a result has a global network of close friends. Countless undergraduate and postgraduate students he taught will remember his brilliance and his compassion. Our thoughts are with his wife, Deborah, and his two children, Nicholas and Eleanor, his daughter-in-law, Zoe, and his family in New Zealand, during this painful time.
To honour his memory, the University of Hull has established a fund in Trevor’s name. The Trevor Burnard Fund will foster the next generation of scholars by supporting PhD students and Early Career Researchers at Hull to conduct research, deliver conference presentations and publish their work. It will also enable international scholars to bring their learning and diverse perspectives to the Wilberforce Institute. Chosen by a team of Trevor’s academic colleagues, recipients will focus on historical topics reflecting Trevor’s own academic interests – slavery, abolition and human rights – and demonstrate his commitment to scholarly interchange and bridging communities and cultures.
Your contribution can help others to build upon Trevor's remarkable legacy. To donate, please visit the University's online giving page. Please contact the Development and Alumni team (alumni@hull.ac.uk) with questions or for more information on the fund.