The forgotten slave traders who shaped Britain

Britain's transatlantic slave trade violently transported some 3.2 million enslaved African men, women and children. But who financed it and what impact did they have back home? Since 2021, historian William A. Pettigrew has led a team that has helped identify around 13,000 investors in the trade, whose influence reached into all aspects of British politics, industry, culture, and philanthropy. In this episode of the History Extra podcast, he speaks to Eleanor Evans about how their activities helped shape modern Britain and why their role has largely disappeared from the national story.

Plus, he reveals the work behind a new register of the traders that means their involvement can be traced in more detail than ever before. Professor William Pettigrew, thank you so much for joining me on the History Extra podcast. Since 2021, you have led the most comprehensive research and analysis ever undertaken into Britain's involvement with the transatlantic trade of enslaved African people. There's a BBC 2 TV series, Finding Britain Slave Traders, which is shortly out and it's based on your team's findings and your book is soon with us as well. For our listeners, can you tell me about the scope of this project?

Yeah, as you said, what we've tried to do is to provide as comprehensive as possible an analysis of all of the known investors based in Britain, not all of them were British, but based in Britain who financed Britain's contribution to the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people, which amounted to roughly the transportation of 3.2 million enslaved African men, women and children. That led us to a list We identified roughly 13,000 investors across the period from the 1560s, so the Tudor period, to abolition, the abolition statute being 1807. So it's a l it's a long period in British history and an especially formative one.

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