The Bank of England and Transatlantic Slavery, 1694-1888 (in-person)

Join Dr Michael Bennett, exhibition researcher for Slavery & the Bank, for a free talk exploring the research that went into our exhibition which looks at the Bank of England's connections to transatlantic slavery.

Dr Michael Bennett will outline the findings of the ongoing archival research into the Bank of England’s links to transatlantic slavery between the 1600s and 1800s, which informed the development of our new exhibition, Slavery & the Bank. Dr Bennett will look at the ways the Bank was connected to the system of transatlantic slavery through its part in the wider financial sector at the time and the business activities of its governors and directors. It will also explore two detailed case studies: the Bank’s financial stake in two plantations in Grenada and the Bank’s role in the distribution of slavery compensation during the 1830s. These case studies will be used as a lens for exploring the broader connections between the City of London and transatlantic slavery in this period.

The talk is free but registration is essential. Registration closes on Monday 17 October. This page is for an in-person ticket. Click here to register to attend online.

About the Speaker

Dr Michael Bennett is a Lecturer in Early Modern British History at the University of Sheffield. His research explores Britain’s involvement in transatlantic slavery and colonialism during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He completed his PhD at Sheffield in 2020, and in 2021-22 led the Bank of England’s archival research into its links to historical slavery. He has also worked as a Research Associate at the University of Manchester on the ‘Legacies of the British Slave Trade’ project.