I was reading a discussion on Austenuations on whether Sir Thomas owned slaves; while this is never explicitly stated in the book, it seems that historically, plantations on Antigua were usually worked by slaves, so most readers of Austen's day would have assumed that he did indeed own slaves.

I remember reading something a while ago suggesting that Mrs. Elton, of Emma, was probably from a family of slave-traders. That in the Regency period, the Bristol area, where Mrs. Elton is from, was known as a base for slave traders, who were often known for vulgar, preening displays of their new found wealth from the trade. Well, if this were true, her attempts to find a situation for Jane Fairfax, and Jane's comparison of governessing to the slave trade, seem extremely ironic. Can anyone confirm this?