Over 130 enslaved African captives were and left to drown because if they had died on board the ship-owners would have been unable to claim insurance money on lost 'cargo', after a navigational error had left the ship in dire straits. Though the Liverpool ship owners were eventually tried in 1783, the case was heard as an insurance dispute rather than as one for mass murder.
The broader examines how London and its architecture reveals aspects of Britain’s historical and cultural identity, and the episode featuring insights from Dr Rupprecht touches on issues including collective amnesia and how British society processes guilt with regards to its colonial past – and how we can move forward in the era of Black Lives Matter.