Mansfield believed that his decision meant that slavery continued, because his "mulatto" great-niece Dido Elizabeth Belle remained a slave in his household, until his 1793 will allowed her to be considered a free woman. (She had been born into slavery as the illegitimate daughter of his nephew in the West Indies but lived with him and his wife for 30 years.) In addition, advertisements from the 1770s show that slaves continued to be bought and sold in England. Mansfield referred to slaves in his judgment in a later case. Although slavery was not completely abolished in the British Empire until 1834, Mansfield's decision is considered to have been a significant step in recognising the illegality of slavery.