The Manchester anti-slave trade petition holds more than 2,000 names and was transcribed by volunteers from the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society. © Parliamentary Archives

The Parliamentary Archives are calling for Family History Societies to come forward to help transcribe a number of 18th century Slave Trade petitions.

The transcribed petitions will feature on www.parliament.uk/slavetrade, a comprehensive website about Parliament’s complex relationship with the British Slave Trade, launched on May 23 2007.

To coincide with the anniversary of the 1807 Act to Abolish the British Slave Trade, the Parliamentary Archives made available a transcribed version of the biggest surviving parliamentary anti-slave trade petition – a document over 5 metres long - which was sent from Manchester in 1806.

In just four weeks the documents on the site have been accessed nearly 24,000 times.

“We have been amazed at the response from members of the public to these documents," said David Prior of the Parliamentary Archives. "It shows that there is a real appetite for archival documents and by using new technology we can make them easily accessible to thousands of people, anywhere in the world.”

The new website already contains a glimpse of the archive material that will go online on May 23 2007. © Parliamentary Archives

The Manchester petition was transcribed with the help of the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society.

John Marsden, who managed the project on behalf the society, explained: “We actually had members of the society all over the world working on this project. Using the internet we were able to send photographs of parts of the petition to people in various countries including the USA and Australia for them to transcribe.”

There are many other such petitions in the Parliamentary Archives from places all over the UK and the Parliamentary Archives would like to be able to make more of them available. To do this they need the local expertise of family history societies.

The Parliamentary Archives have received emails from a number of people who believe they have found descendents on the petition. These stories will be added to the website, www.parliament.uk/slavetrade to create a ‘living’ archive.

Anyone interested in taking part in this project should email: slavetrade1807@24hourmuseum.org.uk

The petition from Manchester will be on display in the exhibition The British Slave Trade: Abolition, Parliament and People, which will run in Westminster Hall from May 23 to September 23 2007.