Nelson’s new Trafalgar
He faces battle as museum reviews ‘heroic status’ over ‘slavery links’
HoRATIo Nelson’s ‘heroic status’ is to be reviewed by the National Maritime Museum because of his ‘complex’ role in British history at the time of slavery.
It will examine his status as part of a re-evaluation of our ‘barbaric history of race and colonialism’.
The museum is reacting to ‘momentum built up by the Black Lives Matter movement’ by looking at ‘aspects of slavery relating to the Royal Navy’, according to internal documents.
‘Wholesale changes’ could be made to displays involving Lord Nelson and the ‘more complex’ nature of his heroism will be addressed by curators taking a fresh look at historical events and people.
The museum, in Greenwich, south- east London, holds more than two million items from Britain’s maritime history, including the coat that Nelson was wearing when he was fatally shot at the Battle of Trafalgar in october 1805. Nelson has come under attack over a letter he sent in June 1805 which supported plantations in the West Indies and criticised ‘damnable’ abolitionist William Wilberforce.
But the Nelson Society yesterday warned against ‘simplistic’ re-appraisals. Vice chairman Chris Brett said: ‘There is a lot of misinformation flying around.’
The society argues that the letter should be taken in the context of the war with France and Spain at the time – anything that could destabilise the economy threatened the country.
It also pointed to examples of Nelson’s ‘humanity’, such as signing on West Indian slaves who had escaped to navy ships and treating them the same as other crew members. Details of the museum’s review emerged in The Sunday Telegraph days after Boris Johnson condemned the ‘woke’ brigade who are embarrassed by Britain’s past.
The Prime Minister told the Conservative Party conference we should be ‘proud of this country’s culture and history’ and not want to ‘pull statues down, to rewrite the history of our country’.
Mr Johnson is planning to give Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick the power to block the removal of statues and other memorials by local councils. Revised planning rules would see an inspector hold an inquiry before recommendations were passed to the minister.
Paddy Rodgers, director of the publicly-funded museum’s parent group, Royal Museums Greenwich, said: ‘We have no plans to change our presentation or interpretation of [ Nelson] at present, but inevitably will do so in the future, to ensure his continuing interest to future generations.’
‘Embarrassed by our past’