Bristol Old Vic built with slave trade money
Research has provided an on-line database of who Britain’s slave traders were from the sixteenth century to 1807 when Britain’s role in the slave trade was curtailed.
David Olusoga has fronted two BBC programmes that look at the detail focusing in Bristol, London and Liverpool.
A key point is that the profits from the slave trade were central to the foundation of British industry and infrastructure. Not incidental but central. a key part of British history.
Olusoga notes that while the London based South Sea Company is known for the 1820 bubble, a financial collapse in fact it was a slave trading company.
One of the most horrific parts of the series is when he looks at the books of the Company held in the British Library. There is an account of how slaves must be branded with the Royal crest but it becomes clear that the Company doctor has now allowed that because of the danger of infection. The books minute the instruction to proceed with branding nevertheless. The names associated with this include Governors of the Bank of England and the Lord Mayor of London.
British history, the reality
Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga – Series 1: Episode 2 – BBC iPlayer
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