Money, Money, Money

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The Bank of England has claimed to have no direct link to slavery and the slave trade. However, according to the UCL Legacies of British slavery database, the Bank of England had 46 former bank directors and governors who had direct links to slavery. 

One of the largest claimants after 1833 was John Reid, a director for the Bank of England from 1820 to 1847. He owned approximately 3,000 slaves and was given £63,000 in compensation for his ‘loss of property’ which equates to £6,000,000 today. Following the Black Lives Matter protests, the Bank of England conducted a review of their artwork on display, resulting in the removal of 8 paintings and 2 busts of former directors and governors who were connected to the trade. Figures such as Gilbert Heathcote, Robert Clayton, William Dawsonne, William Manning and John Pearse were taken down due to their direct link to slavery and the slave trade. They were on display in parlours (the Bank’s formal rooms), and the institution’s museum. However, there are claims that former governors who had links to slavery are still on display, for example, Alfred Latham a governor of the Bank of England who owned 402 slaves and Benjamin Greene, the beneficiary of a slave fortune and a former bank governor (1873-75).

Do you think the Bank of England has properly addressed its connections to the slave trade?

The economic legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery are still present today and prove to be a challenge for institutions who are trying to rectify their past actions. Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, claims that the Bank failed to promote inclusion and diversity within the workplace. In the 2021 annual Review of Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion Report, the Bank of England addressed the issue of the lack of BAME representation within the work place. 

27% of their staff belong to the BAME community and only 21% of that 27% get promoted to higher positions and 15% leave because of the lack of representation within the Bank of England.

If you reposition yourself slightly, you will see the impressive Royal Exchange building. A closer look at the pediment on the Royal Exchange depicts a black man kneeling among other traded goods, reflecting the commodification of slaves. Intriguingly, the frieze was created in 1844, eleven years after slavery was officially abolished. Trading was discussed within coffee houses, formalised in the Royal Exchange and legitimised by laws and policies created in the Guildhall. It is clear to see that a connected system between cultural, economic and political institutions was vital to the development of the trade.

It is evident that the legacies of institutions like the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange are linked to the slave trade; whether that be on display to the general public, or hidden behind their walls. How these national organisations choose to address their involvement in the trade will set the tone for other firms and corporations. 

Our next stop is Guildhall, where legislation and policies needed to legally legitimise the economic actions of the slave trade were implemented.