A slaver or an abolitionist? How past’s far from clear-cut
MANY of Scotland’s empire builders have been criticised for their links to slavery.
Once venerated with statues erected in their honour, they now face the tide of history working against them.
In Edinburgh, the famous Melville Monument, right, was dedicated to the 18th-century Scottish advocate and Tory politician Henry Dundas, the 1st Viscount Melville.
He put forward an amendment to a Bill which would have abolished slavery in 1792, opting for a more ‘gradualist approach’.
This brought a delay of 15 years before the Slave Trade Act of 1807, resulting in some 630,000 slaves being denied early emancipation.
A plaque has now been placed on the statue explaining this.
But Bobby Dundas, a descendant of the viscount, has defended his ancestor after the row about the statue, erected in 1827.
He said the slave trade was ‘horrific’ but urged people to delve deeper into history.
Mr Dundas told The Times: ‘From what I understand, Henry Dundas was an abolitionist.
‘He provided the word “gradual” so it would get through legislation and become law, and without that, it wouldn’t have passed for decades.’