Bristol, Capital & Enslavement is one strand of a wider project of the University of Bristol titled Citizens Researching Together (CRT). CRT seeks to bring together the expertise and experience of Bristol citizens and academics as active and equal participants to address both the history and contemporary legacies of transatlantic slavery and racism. It is hoped that by exploring often invisible histories and multiple narratives of this past and using citizen science methodologies, this project will build a fuller understanding of this history’s impact on society and will empower citizens to learn from the city’s past and shape its future.

The Bristol, Capital & Enslavement project aimed to co-produce with citizen researchers new knowledge and build on existing knowledge related to Bristol’s connections to slavery and the enslaved people connected to Bristol enslavers. Efforts were made on the part of our Citizen Researchers to place the perspectives of the enslaved people at the forefront of their research and highlight as much as they could, the stories of the enslaved people.

This website is one output of the project and serves as a platform to share the incredible work of the Citizen Researchers of varying backgrounds involved in this project. Their in-depth work has contributed to furthering our knowledge of Bristol’s connections with slavery through their historical investigations of Bristol enslavers and research on the lives of the enslaved people.

Please have a read of the research from our Citizen Researchers by navigating the headings at the top of the page.