Protest over slavery link to street name

BLACK Lives Matter activists are demanding the name of a new-build street in Barry is changed, saying it honours a well-known Welsh slave-owner.

They staged a protest outside the Vale of Glamorgan Council offices in protest over the name Fford Penrhyn given to a new residential street on the town’s waterfront.

Vale of Glamorgan council leader Councillor Neil Moore said a review of street names is being carried out – but that this particular street was named after the Welsh for “peninsular” and not after any individual.

Lawyer and black rights activist Hillary Brown, who is leading the protest, said that is not good enough.

She pointed out that name honours slave master Richard Pennant, the first Baron Penrhyn.

He made his fortune off the back of slaves forced to work on his plantations in Jamaica. The money made was crucial to his development of the slate industry and Penrhyn Castle near Bangor.

Ms Brown said she was astonished no-one at the Vale of Glamorgan Council made the connection when the street name was chosen.

“I contacted the builders Persimmon and they said the local authority chose street names. When I contacted the council they said the name means headland or peninsular in Welsh. But that’s unacceptable and I want it changed.”

Cllr Moore said a review of street names and public buildings is being carried out in the wake of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests.

He said: “The street in question was not named after an individual, but rather includes the Welsh translation for peninsular or headland, reflecting its location near the coast. It is also a Cornish name for headland.

“The name does not refer to any historical figure.”