An exhibition relating to the abolition of slavery in Bermuda is currently on show at the Bermuda Archives and at the Bermuda College Library.

'The Legal Instruments of Emancipation' provides the public with a rare opportunity to view Bermuda's original Slave Registers compiled in the period leading up to Emancipation in 1834. The Registers, mandated by the British Government, are among the most comprehensive sources for the study of slavery in Bermuda.

This exhibition marks the second time the Registers have been on public display since their restoration in 2004.

Bermuda Archives director Karla Hayward hopes to draw people who traditionally haven't been users of the Archives.

"One of the challenges is that the exhibition is text, we are not a museum, so sometimes it is very difficult to visually capture that, so it needs some contextual information," she said.

One of the archivists suggested an audio component, which was read by Leo Mills and Meredith Ebbin, who read excerpts from 'The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave' (London 1831) and from Suzette Lloyd's, an English woman's letters, which offer differing viewpoints of the early 1800s Bermuda.

Although the Slave Registers and the Emancipation Act are restored, they are very fragile.

Students worked throughout the summer digitising the Slave Registers, although they are still checking for errors. Copies on Microfilm are available immediately for the public to research.

The exhibit also offers an explanation as to why the Slave Registers were kept.

"The slave trade was abolished in 1811 throughout the British Empire, the authorities in London asked the colonies to keep a census of their slave populations, as a way of trying to control that trade," she said.

"There wasn't a whole lot of compliance, so in 1819 they required the colonies to prepare registers, so the Government had to submit these registers back to London.

"In 1821 the first register was prepared, and again in 1827, and 1830. The 1827 one is probably the biggest one, I'm not quite sure why that is, but there was the Remuneration Act that was passed and it changed the legal status of people of colour."

The exhibition is on at the Bermuda Archives (297-7737) and at the Bermuda College Library (239-4033) until November 28.