Bank of England's Tainted Roots: Enslavement-Funded Capital

New research has uncovered the shocking extent to which Britain's financial system was involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Historians have compiled a register of British Slave Traders, revealing that dozens of financiers who helped found the Bank of England were also significant investors in the enslavement of millions of Africans.

The research by Dr Michael Bennett of the University of Sheffield found that 24 directors of the Bank of England invested in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people. Four of these directors were among the London elites who founded the bank in 1694, and nine were also governors of the institution. The bank's initial capital was partly formed from wealth generated by the slave trade.

At least 30 founding subscribers to the Bank of England invested in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans. Among them were King William III and Queen Mary II, who held shares in the Royal African Company. Historians have also discovered that many private banks and financial corporations in London supported the slave trade during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Bank of England itself provided financial services to the slave trade, including clients like the Royal African Company and the South Sea Company. The bank's own records show that it owned 599 enslaved people on two plantations. An exhibition at the bank in 2022 included the names of these enslaved individuals, but little information was provided about their origins.

While the Bank of England has acknowledged its past involvement in slavery and apologized for the actions of its former directors and governors, the Treasury has not publicly done so. The government's refusal to discuss reparations or acknowledge culpability is being challenged by historians and officials from Caribbean and African countries.