The Lloyd's Collection: our historic links to transatlantic slavery
Learning from the legacy of Lloyd's links to slavery
The Lloyd’s Collection contains objects, archives and publications relating to Lloyd’s from its foundation in the late 1680s to the present day. Our Collection has developed over time and grown through individual purchases and donations. It doesn’t provide a complete record of the activities of the Lloyd’s Market or everything that has been insured at Lloyd’s in its 330 year history, but allows us to witness some aspects of our past.
Recently, we have been exploring our archive to better understand our historical links to the transatlantic slave trade through a research collaboration with Black Beyond Data from Johns Hopkins University, independently funded by the Mellon Foundation. The research was published in early November 2023 via Underwriting Souls.
In our approach to this research, we have been guided by the voices of our colleagues. Together, we have facilitated a series of conversations between Black and ethnically diverse colleagues and white allies to co-curate items from the Lloyd’s Collection. Each item from the Collection is the starting point for an anonymous conversation, in which the participants explore their lived experience and the legacy of enslavement. The items were chosen to align with colleagues’ specific ancestry or selected by colleagues themselves.
These powerful conversations bear witness to the experiences of our colleagues and their ancestors across generations, connecting the past to the present and the shared history of slavery. We remain deeply sorry for this part of our history and the harm caused to people and communities around the world.
You can listen to a short extract of each conversation or hear the full conversations by following the links below.
Please note: you may encounter harmful content and language in these conversations. However, we believe it is important to bring to the foreground the absent and hidden histories of enslavement. We would like to thank all of our colleagues for sharing their experiences.
If you have any feedback or comments about the issues raised in these conversations, please email:
The Conversations
Conversation on the Bill of Lading for 100 enslaved people
Honest conversations
This project is a continuation of a dialogue with our Black and ethnically diverse colleagues, in both the Corporation and the market.
In 2022 we had some honest conversations with our Black and ethnically diverse colleagues about Lloyd’s history, the transatlantic 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.