How London’s wealth was built on the backs of slaves
- More than 3,000 voyages engaged in the trade in enslaved Africans left from London, responsible for transporting at least 800,000 into slavery
- Many in the city made their fortunes off the back of slavery and colonial oppression, a fact that is only now being partially acknowledged
If there’s one thing that foretold the City of London’s ambition to become the epicentre of finance it was the founding of the Royal Exchange almost 500 years ago.
The driving force behind the capital’s first purpose-built centre for trading stocks was Sir Thomas Gresham, whose legacy survives in the college, City street and law of economics that bear his name.
Less celebrated is the role of his prominent backer in the venture, Sir William Garrard: former Lord Mayor and pioneer of English involvement in the slave trade.
The City of London is interwoven with so many layers of history, from Roman to medieval, the civil war and the age of empire, that the lives of the myriad figures who contributed to its status today are often obscured by time.
But with outside scrutiny comes the realisation that many made their fortunes off the back of slavery and colonial oppression, a fact that is now being acknowledged by some of the financial district’s most venerable names, shaking the foundations upon which many of these institutions were built.
