New research has unveiled the extensive involvement of Britain in the transatlantic slave trade, revealing a network of investors ranging from monarchs and parliamentarians to merchants and cultural figures who financed the trafficking of more than three million enslaved African men, women, and children over nearly 250 years. The findings come from the Register of British Slave Traders, a comprehensive project conducted by a team of historians over several years.
The register documents approximately 10,500 individuals involved in the trade from its roots in the 1560s through to abolition in 1807, drawing on historical records such as company documents, wills, parliamentary registers, and official biographies. It highlights that the slave trade was not a marginal enterprise but rather a central feature of British economic, political, and cultural life for centuries.
Among those named in the register are figures such as King James II, who led and invested in slave-trading companies; prominent politicians from both the Tory and Whig parties, including MPs and financiers associated with the founding of the Bank of England; and cultural icons like composer George Frideric Handel and philosopher John Locke, both shareholders in the Royal African Company (RAC). The Church of England also played a role, with at least 45 clergymen recorded as investors.
The Royal African Company, established in 1672 and operating under royal charter, was the largest organised trafficker of enslaved Africans, forcibly transporting at least 150,000 people to plantations in the Americas and the Caribbean. The company held a monopoly enforced by state military power, reflecting the government’s direct endorsement and involvement in the trade. Over time, merchants in port cities such as Bristol, Liverpool, and Lancaster actively expanded the trade following the removal of the royal monopoly in 1712, when free trade legislation increased the scale of enslavement dramatically.
Prominent traders like Robert Heysham in Lancashire and Arthur Heywood in Liverpool became major figures in the trafficking network. Liverpool, in particular, emerged as a dominant centre, with many of its mayors and local officials deeply engaged in the trade, lobbying parliament to resist abolition measures. The register notes that these businessmen frequently reinvested profits in other local institutions, including schools and banks, contributing to the development of British commerce and culture.
The research further reveals the enduring legacy of the slave trade’s profits, which underpinned Britain’s Industrial Revolution and funded hospitals, arts, and social institutions. It also addresses the often-overlooked involvement of women in slave-trading ventures, with over 1,000 female investors identified.
Despite calls from some quarters for formal government acknowledgment and reparations for slavery, British authorities have maintained that the trade was legal at the time and have consistently rejected reparations claims. This position has been challenged recently, including by a petition delivered to King Charles by an official delegation from Jamaica seeking a legal ruling on the matter.
Historians involved in compiling the register argue that the slave trade’s centrality to British history has been obscured by national narratives emphasizing abolition and by a tendency to view slavery as a primarily American issue. The register seeks to reposition the history of enslavement as a foundational part of Britain’s economic growth and social development, underscoring that the country’s legacy is deeply intertwined with this chapter of human suffering.
The release of the register comes amid a broader global movement urging European nations to confront their roles in the transatlantic slave trade, with calls for apologies and reparations gaining momentum. To facilitate public understanding, a major documentary series is also being produced, exploring the historical figures and institutions involved in Britain’s participation in the trafficking of enslaved Africans.