New Town's old slavery shame

By Phyllis Stephen

Walking to his office in Forth Street, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, often casts an eye over the two handsome Georgian properties which stand at number 12 and 24, both distinct from other buildings in the street and each sharing a notorious link to the past.

Born in Jamaica, Sir Geoffrey moved to London aged 15 to join his Windrush generation mother. A specialist in grain science, he rose to the top in brewing chemistry and was Scotland’s first black professor. The first European to receive the American Society of Brewing Chemists Award (the

Nobel Prize of brewing) Sir Geoffrey was made Professor Emeritus at Heriot-Watt University’s School of Life Sciences on his retirement

A well-respected human rights activist he is Honorary President of Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) which has its office on Forth Street and it's through his work in holding a light to the horrors of the slave trade that no 12 and 24 Forth Street hove in to view. Both addresses are mentioned in the records of the Slave Compensation Commission, published by University College London, which is effectively a census of slave ownership in the British Empire in the 1830s and which was set up to manage the distribution of a £20 million compensation to slave owners.

Sir Geoffrey said: "I looked at the compensation list from 1833/34, and I saw 24 Forth Street and 12 Forth Street on it. I know them very well because I pass them on my way to the ELREC office.

“I thought, these can't be on the compensation list. These are addresses which I know. I know the Gallery of Modern Art and Bathgate Academy was built by slave owners, and I know about Dollar Academy, but what are slave owners doing on Forth Street?

"So I immediately went down to 24 and stood in front of it. And it was quite worrying, but also awe inspiring, because there was a house which somebody owned, who received money for their slaves, and where I pass quite frequently."

Number 24 is marked out from the rest of Forth Street with decorative Juliette balconies and neo-classical windows on the top floor. In 1821 an Archibald Crawfuird resided here and letters were posted to this address regarding the shipment of sugar and rum from the Three Mile River plantation in Jamaica to London, Hull and Glasgow.

At 12 Forth Street two large entrance doors sit side by side, which Sir Geoffrey believes may have provided the owners with a separate entrance from their servants. The UCL records list Adam Wilson, Depute Clerk of Session in Edinburgh, as being awarded compensation as the trustee and executor of the estate of William Wilson who had links to Tobago.

He added: "What I think is significant here, is that slavery made that big difference in terms of the construction of houses. It was a statement of wealth. It was a statement of being part of a big business. It wasn't an embarrassment.

"This is the thing about slavery, when we talk about it today, a lot of people say to me - 'these are Scottish people, how could this happen?' They feel that Scots could not have been involved with something like that. And I think this is the fascination of people with it, but there's also a sense of a bit of 24 Forth Street has slave trade connections embarrassment."

But Forth Street is far from unique and a stroll around many New Town streets will throw up similar shady links to the slave trade and Scotland’s strong connection, as Sir Geoffrey points out.

He said: “57 Albany Street is on the list. 24 Broughton Place is on that list. York Place, India Street are on the list and Rodney Street is one of the most significant streets in Edinburgh as it is named after Rodney, the British admiral sent to Jamaica in 1782 with the Royal Navy to defend Jamaica against the French.”

Not surprisingly the Port of Leith produced one of the largest (and wealthiest) slave owners in John Gladstone, father of Prime Minister William Gladstone, who held

2,508 slaves for which he received today’s equivalent of £83 million in compensation.

Scotland’s involvement in the slave trade is often downplayed, believes Sir Geoffrey, conveniently overlooking that at one point Scottish owners controlled 30% of Jamaican slave plantations.

Even today, Scotland’s tarnished links to slavery casts a shadow with historians, campaigners and Viscount Melville in dispute over the wording of a new plaque for the Melville Monument in St Andrew’s Square. Sir Geoffrey sits on a panel which is looking at the controversial matter of how best to acknowledge Henry Dundas’s (1st Viscount Melville) role in prolonging slavery by fighting for a “gradual” abolition, which delayed emancipation for 630,000 slaves. A solution would be an ideal gift for Sir Geoffrey's 80th birthday this month, but the only breath he is holding is reserved for candles. 57 Albany Street