The records kept an account of the slaves and their condition

The working papers of West India Merchants and Plantation went on display at the Museum in Docklands in east London.

The records, belonging to Thomas Mills, give detailed accounts of slaves who worked on the family's sugar plantations on Caribbean islands.

The British Government abolished the lucrative slave trade in 1807.

'Slave port'

The documents include a plantation journal, dating back to 1776, which describes the duties and the lives of the slaves on the islands of St Kitts and Nevis.

An estimated 24,962 African slaves were carried by 77 British ships which sailed from West India Quay between 1802 and 1807.

A plantation journal gives details about the slaves' duties

The slaves were taken to the Americas and sold to plantation owners.

Some 3,136 slaves did not survive the trans-Atlantic journey.

The museum's director, David Spence, said the papers are "a window into London's history as a slave port".

"This is not a history that has been widely told, and yet it is vital to the understanding and appreciation of London's identity today," he said.

'Lost history'

The letters, inventories and invoices list the names given to the slaves and show how they were treated.

The records show how the plantation managers calculated the days' work and determined the slaves' allowances.

The company was paid a compensation of �872 by the government when slavery was abolished, a paper revealed.

Actor Burt Caesar, who was born on St Kitts, said: "For all British citizens of West Indian origin the Mills papers are vital documents in the often hidden or lost history of slavery in the islands."

Next year a series of events will mark 200 years of the abolition of slavery by the British.