College plaque to admit donor’s wealth came from slavery

AN OXFORD college plans to put up a plaque in memory of slaves who worked for one of its benefactors.

All Souls College said it would place the memorial outside a library paid for by slave owner Christopher Codrington.

The Codrington Library was founded using a donation of £10,000 – worth £1.2million in today’s terms – and a statue of the benefactor stands inside. Students have called for the library name to be changed and for the statue to be removed over concerns that they are offensive to black students. Codrington owned sugar plantations where more than 300 slaves worked. He left the money to All Souls when he died in 1710.

Yesterday, the university said the statue and name would still stand and there were no plans to change this. It said the college remained grateful to

Codrington for his donation, but the warden and fellows concluded that it should provide a public statement about the origins of his wealth.

In a planning application to Oxford City Council, All Souls said the idea to put up a plaque as a memorial to those who worked in slavery on Codrington’s plantations came from a conference dealing with the history of slavery, which was held at the college in October last year. The tablet would be placed on a wall outside the library, where it would be visible from the street when the Catte Street entrance gate is open.

A spokesman for All Souls said: ‘The college wishes to provide a public statement and reminder to all who enjoy the beauty of the buildings and the outstanding collections of the library that they were originally funded by wealth which had its origins principally in slave labour.’