The transatlantic slave trade

From 1640 to the early 19th century, an estimated 3.2 million enslaved African people were transported by Britain’s vast shipping industry – and Lloyd’s was the global centre for insuring that industry. We are deeply sorry for the Lloyd’s market’s participation in the transatlantic slave trade. It is part of our shared history that caused enormous suffering and continues to have a negative impact on Black and ethnically diverse communities today.

Prompted by the anti-racist activism of Black people and allies following the murder of George Floyd, Lloyd’s is on a journey of research and reflection as we acknowledge our historical connections to slavery, as well as the lack of ethnic representation – particularly at senior levels – that still exists within the Lloyd’s market.

While slavery’s connections to Lloyd’s history have been tacitly acknowledged before, they have never been fully interrogated or accounted for, until now. Our market – the world’s largest insurance and reinsurance market – was started in the 17th century, in Edward Lloyd’s coffee shop, near the banks of the River Thames.

Lloyd’s customers were ship owners and businesspeople, many of whom amassed their fortunes in the same way that Britain enriched itself at the time – through the extractive economics of empire. That empire was powered by Britain’s vast shipping industry. And Lloyd’s was the global centre for insuring shipping.

Not only did the market’s marine insurance consider and underwrite enslaved people as part of a ship’s cargo, much of Lloyd’s business involved commodities of empire - food such as wheat and rice, industrial crops such as cotton or rubber, stimulants such as sugar, tea, coffee and tobacco and ores such as copper and gold - which were also likely to have been produced by enslaved or unfree people.

We are deeply sorry for the Lloyd’s market’s participation in the transatlantic slave trade. It is part of our shared history that caused enormous suffering and continues to have a negative impact on Black and ethnically diverse communities today. 

We have had some honest conversations with our Black and ethnically diverse colleagues, in both the Corporation and the market, about Lloyd’s history, the trans-Atlantic slave trade and their experiences. The views of those colleagues have been compiled into a video which you can view here, and we are grateful for their insights.

We are also undertaking a research collaboration with Black Beyond Data of Johns Hopkins University, who are independently examining items in our collection which have significant connections to slavery and will contextualise Lloyd’s institutional role. This important work will set these items in the wider context of this shameful period of history. This research will be published as a digital exhibit alongside the online catalogue of Lloyd’s Collection.

Dr Alexandre White, who is leading this project at Black Beyond Data, said:

As we further examine Lloyd’s connections to slavery, we will continue to make our findings public, and will ensure that an honest account of our role in the slave trade is a part of the story we tell about Lloyd’s.

We also recognise that the legacy of slavery continues, evident in the racial inequality that persists to this day.

At Lloyd’s, we want to operate a market in which everyone can fully participate and thrive. One of the ways we intend to do this is through continued investment in programmes to attract, retain and develop Black and ethnically diverse talent.

Lloyd’s Corporate Archive is freely accessible to the public. The catalogue of our Corporate Archive is available at the London Metropolitan Archives. Most of the collection dates from 1771, with some deeds dating back to 1585. Please note that the Captains’ Registers are held at London Metropolitan Archives and the rest of the archive is available at the Guildhall Library.