Exploring the history of Birmingham, in particular the industrial revolution and its relationship to transatlantic slave trade. Like many major cities, there is clear evidence that Birmingham developed and profited, directly and indirectly, from an economic and industrial system of human degradation and displacement. The local significance of the gun industry in Birmingham and throughout the Black Country can be controversial.
This tour features story of Quaker Samuel Galton and the growth of Farmer and Galton which was rooted in the slave trade. In 1773 Samuel Galton was an equal partner at Steelhouse Lane gun works. The company was the chief arms supplier to the Committee of the African Company. These arm were used by slave trading merchants of the mid-eighteenth century. There is also wider controversy over the quality of Birmingham massed produced guns.
Galton was a member of the Lunar Society and worked very closely with Boulton and Watt. Samuel Galton Jnr. was to become one of the most successful businessmen in the group resulting from his involvement in a variety of ventures, including canal development.
