Douglass' visit was commemorated by a plaque placed on the site of the church in February 2023. 5/5

This was Douglass’ last appearance in Scotland for fourteen years. For more background on this meeting see this excellent article by Alastair Redpath
in the Hawick Paper, 23 Oct 2020 (£1 sub required) thehawickpaper.co.uk/2020/10/23/t... 4/5

At the meeting James Robertson delivered the news, first broken in Edinburgh, that negotiations had begun to purchase Douglass’s freedom, and invited the audience to contribute to the funds already raised. 3/5

This was the only meeting addressed by Douglass in the Scottish Borders as far as we know, although his fellow campaigner Henry Clarke Wright had toured the area in the Spring. 2/5

After the meeting, Douglass stayed at the home of John Wigham, Jr. and Sarah Wigham (née Nicholson) at 10 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh 5/5

The formalities were completed in December and thenceforth he was a free man. 4/5

Anna and Ellen Richardson in Newcastle had been gathering donations since the summer and, communicating through lawyers in Boston and Baltimore, they persuaded Douglass’ legal owner to agree a price of £150. 3/5

The newspaper reports dwell on the contribution of other speakers, but the occasion is significant because it was the first time that secret negotiations over the purchase of Douglass’ freedom were made public. 2/5

The following week the Perth Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society organised a public display of ‘many, various, elegant and FANCY ARTICLES’ that had been contributed for dispatch to the Christmas Anti-Slavery Bazaar in Boston, Massachusetts. 4/4

Despite the weather, the meeting attracted an audience of 500 or so. 3/4

His fellow speaker William Lloyd Garrison wrote: ‘we came to this city, from Dundee, in a steamer borne on the noble river Tay, but the weather was dismal and stormy, so that we lost (what I much desired to see) a good prospect, and saw very little of the river scenery.’ 2/4

And he noted that while the rain and the 'Free Church mops' had finally erased the 'Send back the money' slogans from the walls of Edinburgh, it had begun to be chalked up again following the return of the abolitionists that week. 4/4

Dundee thanked the managers of the church for helping out at short notice, reciting an anti-slavery verse by the American poet John Greenleaf Whittier. 3/4

They had originally been invited to speak at Ward Chapel, but its minister David Russell had blocked the request (as he had when Douglass was in town in March). 2/4

Its object was to collect 'money or articles of some value to be sent to the American Anti-Slavery Bazaar – the proceeds of which to be applied in the liberating of as many of their fellow-beings in bondage as the funds will overtake.' 3/3

The meeting was called by the local Anti-Slavery Society, formed by women of the town following Douglass' previous visit in June. 2/3