The roots of the British slave trade extend so far and so deep that barely any area of British life remains untouched by its impact.

There are any number of British institutions with the fingerprints of slavery in their histories.

In The Legacy of the Slave Trade Michael Buerk investigates the far-reaching economic and cultural connections of a number of key British institutions with slavery.



In part one Michael Buerk talks to the head of the Church of England, Dr Rowan Williams, and others about the Church's involvement in the slave trade.

Under the guise of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Church of England owned slaves and plantations in the Caribbean. It was so profitable that when they were forced to free the slaves the British government paid the Church compensation.

Michael also visits All Soul's College, Oxford, which benefited financially from the will of slave owner Christopher Coddrington.

 Listen to part one



Some financial institutions still playing a major role in the City of London were built on the slave trade.

The Barclay family were Quakers that moved from brewing to banking. Then David Barclay became a slave and plantation owner when a creditor defaulted on a loan.

He was a religious man ? and the Quakers were at the forefront of the abolition campaign.

He took a public stand in the controversy over slavery and freed his slaves.

 Listen to part two



The British manufacturing industry was no less party to the ambiguities of profit and principle.

Textiles were one of the main currencies of exchange with Africa. Buying slaves in exchange for textiles and actually clothing slaves were among the biggest markets for the British textile industry.

Engineer industrialists such as Matthew Bolton benefited from slavery by selling his steam engines to the West Indes, and yet he was friends with a number of abolitionists and supported the cause financially.

 Listen to part three

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The music played throughout the series is Mighty River, composed by Errollyn Wallen and played by the Philharmonia Orchestra. It was commissioned by the Rector, David Isherwood, and the Church Council of Holy Trinity Clapham Common and the Reverend John Wates for the Philharmonia Orchestra to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.