The English East India Company (EIC) is one of the most famous companies in world history. Its legacy is strongly contested, partly due to its involvement in military actions to support its trade.

The project brought together researchers from the University of Southampton and staff at the British Library to uncover stories about life on board East India Company ships. Historians have argued over the activities of the EIC on land and used EIC ships’ logs extensively. However, the personal experiences of passengers and crew on the ships have been overshadowed. Some of the materials used in the project had not received much attention.

An evening of readings and discussion held at the British Library was recorded both on video and as a podcast. In addition, there are four blogs on the British Library’s Untold Lives blog for you to explore.

The project was funded by the University of Southampton’s Public Engagement with Research unit. We are grateful for their support. We are also grateful to the British Library for their assistance, but particularly to Margaret Makepeace, Penny Brook, Sarah Evans and Allan Sudlow.

The script for the event was created from original document sources and acted by Rebecca Tremain and Penny Dimond of the Mustard Club.

The speakers were Penny Brook and Margaret Makepeace for the British Library; Helen Paul, John McAleer and Tom Irvine from the University of Southampton and Chris Whitty of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.