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Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David Olusoga

2026SeriesFrancis Welch
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The people and institutions behind the trade

Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David Olusoga examines the British traders who transported millions of Africans into slavery. The two-part BBC documentary uses new research to follow the people and institutions involved, connecting royal authority with the later growth of investment across the country. Its subject is the organization of the trade and the networks of wealth around it.

The first episode begins with the monarchy’s involvement under Elizabeth I and the establishment of a royal monopoly. This gives the investigation a starting point in political power as well as commerce. Olusoga follows how an economic enterprise became embedded within the structures of the state.

From a royal monopoly to provincial investors

The second chapter examines the expansion after the royal monopoly ended. The programme describes a surge in activity through provincial ports and the participation of thousands of investors. The change broadens the history from a small set of royal interests into a much wider network of financial involvement.

BBC material accompanying the series includes women as financial actors and the use of profits to invest in institutions. Another strand visits Fort Bullen, associated with attempts to stop ships continuing the trade. These examples connect the main chronology with the people, surviving places and lasting financial relationships through which the history can be investigated.

A research-led account presented by Olusoga

Francis Welch directs, with Kat Feavers and Olusoga among the credited producers. Each part is approximately an hour. The programme’s focus on traders and investors makes the machinery of enslavement its central subject, bringing a national history into contact with the specific decisions and interests that sustained it.

Episodes

S01 · E01

Episode 1

David Olusoga meets the historians who have built the Register of British Slave Traders. For five years, they have searched through thousands of documents, piecing together a comprehensive picture of over 13,000 individuals who were investors in the slave trade. Anyone can now log on and discover who the slave traders were, where they lived, how much money they made and the links between modern British institutions and the trade in human beings. David discovers how the monarchy drove the early British slave trade. He learns how Elizabeth I and the early Stuarts gave their support to early slavery ventures; how the restored monarchy in the 1660s, seeking new ways to strengthen its finances an

S01 · E02

Episode 2

David Olusoga reveals how the end of the royal monopoly and the expansion of the trade was the 'big bang' moment in the story of the slave trade. In the 18th century, the trade in enslaved Africans would reach its peak as it expanded out of the royal court to provincial towns and ports across the country, with thousands of new investors.

Episode descriptions: TVmaze · CC BY-SA 4.0

Film details

Format
Documentary series
Release year
2026
Premiere date
2026-09-21
Director
Francis Welch
Production companies
Hillgate Films, Voltage TV
Country of production
United Kingdom
Language
English
Episode runtime
59 min

Catalogue information: TVmaze · CC BY-SA 4.0