Wealth Generation and Deployment in the Liverpool Slave Trade, 1750-1807: An Investigation of Cashflows

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This thesis relates to one of the most hotly debated topics in the field of the transatlantic slave trade -the level of profits achieved and how these profits were deployed. By in-depth investigation of a group ofLiverpool slave traders, I will use my knowledge as a chartered accountant to re-examine this debate. Myinvestigation will isolate the merchants' slave trade profits from those of their other trading ventures andthen ascertain how that wealth was deployed. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement andgrowing calls for reparations, the relevance of such an investigation has never been greater. It is ofinterest beyond academic history. The Legacies of British Slave Ownership project, looks at how wealthfrom slavery permeated British society, however its emphasis is on slave ownership rather than the slavetrade. A focussed financial analysis of a group of slave traders, contextualised in the history of Liverpool,is largely absent from the academic discourse.This project takes a fresh look at the debate around the profitability of the slave trade and whether it fuelled the growth of Liverpool and indeed the industrial revolution. Key to my investigation will be establishing the link between slave trading activities and the merchants' wealth. Two recent studies have aimed to trace profits generated by the slave trade to the development of Liverpool. Longmore (2007) sought to investigate the "cultural, physical and economic impact of the slave trade on late eighteenth-century Liverpool", and Pope (2007) explored the investments of slave merchants in property and aimed to gauge their social aspirations. Both caveat their work by stating that without more detailed investigation it was not possible to distinguish slave trade gains from those of their other trading activities. Nicholas Radburn (2009) isolated merchant William Davenport's slave trading profits from his other business ventures, however the focus of his investigation was not on the deployment of Davenports wealth. This study will provide the detailed investigation required to build upon the work of Longmore, Pope and Radburn and allow greater insights into both the generation and disbursement of Liverpool's slave trade wealth. In order to undertake this project, I will blend my expertise as an accountant with research skills developed whilst preparing my prize-winning Masters dissertation.