The slavery and colonialism links to our National Trust properties
Eugene Byrne takes a look at the National Trust’s recent report looking at the links between some of their properties and slavery and colonialism, and at the places in the Bristol region which feature.
THE National Trust two weeks ago released its report on the links between colonialism and slavery and its various properties around the country.
The Interim Report on the Connections between Colonialism and Properties now in the Care of the National Trust, Including Links with Historic Slavery is, says the Trust, “part of our commitment to ensuring links to colonialism and historic slavery are properly represented, shared and interpreted as part of a broader narrative.”
As many readers will know, the move has proved controversial. Conservative politicians and commentators have lined up to slam the report as a “woke” gesture.
North East Somerset MP and Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the Trust of: “pretending that they are abashed about the greatness that this country has enjoyed over so many centuries”, while former Tory MP and now leading light of the Brexit Party Ann Widdecombe announced on TV that she was cancelling her National Trust membership.
The report, which was commissioned a year ago – that is, before the Black Lives Matter protests in Britain and America, and before the fall of Bristol’s Colston statue – has been put together by a very eminent team of scholars and researchers, and is, it is stressed, an interim document on which more work needs to be done.
It looks at the sources of wealth linked to slave labour and the East India Company and their relationship to the buildings and estates in the Trust’s care. It also examines the links between historic houses and the campaigns to abolish slavery and end colonialism. It includes a list of 93 places and collections with known links.
Dr Tarnya Cooper, Curatorial and Collections Director said: “Colonialism and slavery were central to the national economy from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Around a third of the places now in our care have direct connections to wider colonial histories, often in a way that’s reflected in collections, materials and records that are visible at those places.”
The Trust says that it has a responsibility to look at the full and inclusive history of its properties, and not simply be the guardian of grand old houses, estates and art collections.
Dr Cooper said that the Trust should research and share information about its places.
“This is part of caring for our properties in a historically responsible and academically robust way. The work helps us all understand what’s gone before; now and for future generations.”
A few of the Trust’s properties in the region with slavery and colonialism links include:
Bath Assembly Rooms
The construction of the Assembly Rooms was funded by a tontine subscription, and one of the investors was James Leigh-Perrot, Jane Austen’s uncle. Leigh-Perrot’s wife Jane Cholmeley came from a family which owned plantations in Barbados. In 1830, the Assembly Rooms was also the venue for a speech by anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce.
Clevedon Court, N. Somerset
Bought in 1709 by Abraham Elton I (1654-1728), a leading Bristol industrialist whose enterprises included brass and iron foundries. He produced a range of goods exported to Africa to be traded for slaves. Later generations of the Elton family were involved with the trade and owned plantations in Jamaica and owned sugar refineries in Bristol.
Dyrham Park, South Glos
Owned in Tudor times by the Wynter family, whose interests included Sir John Hawkins’ slaving voyages of the 1560s. The house and gardens were built by William Blathwayt (1649?-1717) who had extensive colonial contacts. Blathwayt’s career was essentially that of an administrator, but that involved a lot of bribes and favours and for more than 30 years he was AuditorGeneral of Plantation Revenues.
Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire
Leased during the 1820s by John Rock Grosset, an MP and owner of three plantations in Jamaica. In 1834 he received over £16,000 in compensation when the law freed the slaves he owned. This was a stupendous sum at the time, corresponding to millions today.
Snowshill Manor, Glos
Famously owned by architect, artist and connoisseur Charles Paget Wade, who created some wonderful gardens and filled the house with his eccentric collections of various objects. Wade inherited Snowshill from his father, who was himself the result of a liaison between his plantation-owning father and a Black servant whom he later married. An interesting illustration as to how the issues of race and colonialism are often more complicated than they might at first appear.
Stourhead, Wiltshire
The vast estate created by banker Henry Hoare (1677-1725) was made possible by his successful exploitation of the ‘South Sea Bubble’, in which the price of stock in the South Sea Company rose to absurd heights and then collapsed. The South Sea Company was, in its turn, founded to exploit Britain’s right to trade slaves with Spain’s colonies in the Americas.
Tyntesfield, North Somerset
William Gibbs (1790-1875) made an immense fortune in guano, used as fertiliser, which was mostly mined in Peru using Chinese labourers who were notionally employees, but were for all practical purposes, slaves. See article in BT, September 8.
You can download and read the full report at: https://tinyurl. com/yd6g8vq4