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History Matters Project Compendium 15th Edition
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This is the fifteenth edition of our rolling compendium, which attempts to systematically document recent developments that turn on the place of history in the public square – including the removal of certain statues on public display, the renaming of buildings and places, and changes to the way history is taught in educational curricula and museums. In cataloguing these examples, we do not offer any judgement on the actions of the individual or institution in question, today or in the past. Our aim is simply to provide a clear documentary record of what is happening – which can help inform public debate on these issues. At present, the evidence confirms that history is the most active front in a new culture war, and that action is being taken widely and quickly in a way that does not reflect public opinion or growing concern over our treatment of the past.
The recent discovery that around two thousand treasures may have been stolen from the British Museum has renewed conversations around the world on the question of cultural restitution. Over the past months many museums have taken action to return artefacts to the places of their geographical origin. It has become clear that the governing bodies at museums need guidance and frameworks regarding questions of curation and restitution.
Policy Exchange renews a call for evidence asking museum directors, curators, teachers and the wider public to share their experiences and concerns about the ways in which the representation of history is being revisited, either to present a more complete view of the past, or for partisan and inappropriately politicised reasons. Please send evidence to callforevidence@policyexchange.org.uk.
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Contents
- National Maritime Museum
- The British Museum
- Gladstone’s Family
- Benin Bronzes
- Kew Gardens
- The Mary Rose Museum
- National Museum of Scotland
- Manchester Museum
- Wellcome Collection
- UN Judge Calculates UK Reparations Payments
- Prime Minister Rejects Calls for Reparations
- Memorial for victims of the transatlantic slave trade
- Former MP requests removal from slavery Research
- King Charles supports research into the Royal Family’s slavery links
- Trinity College, Cambridge
- University of Aberdeen - Decolonisation
- University of Bristol – Building Names Public Consultation
- Bristol – Street Renaming to Require Consent of Property Owners
- Wales - Monuments, Street Names, and Buildings
- Cambridge – Eagle Pub
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1. National Maritime Museum
 National Maritime Museum to change gallery to deal with the legacy of the slave trade.
The National Maritime Museum’s ‘Atlantic Worlds: Exploration and Cultural Encounters’ gallery deals with “ the complexity of the histories linking Africa, the Americas and Europe.”
The museum has added a section of the exhibit which reads:
“How are you affected by the legacies of transatlantic slavery?
This gallery no longer reflects the approaches or ambitions of the National Maritime Museum. It was opened in 2007, the 200th anniversary of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire. However, the legacies of transatlantic slavery are noticeably absent and Black voices are not well represented in the space.
Changing this is a work in progress.
[…]
Please use the comment cards to provide feedback about the gallery or reflections on the themes raised”.
The rest of the gallery has exhibits dealing with voyages across the Atlantic from the 1490s, their effects on the indigenous people, the practice of slavery, transportation, abolition, and the West Africa Squadron.
It is unclear how the National Maritime Museum intends to change the gallery to reflect the legacies of transatlantic slavery. The first addition has been a map of Greenwich cataloguing how “the buildings around us, of stone, glass, and steel are often records of the profits of the transatlantic slave trade”
In 2021 the museum hosted a one-day ‘intervention’ in which they aimed to ‘interrogate the story told in the gallery, and question whether the space reflects the experiences of those impacted by colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.’ One of the results of this intervention was a ‘re-written interpretation panel for the Atlantic Worlds gallery’ now on the Royal Museums Greenwich Website. The panel reads:
“The slavery that had existed in Africa before the Europeans arrived was not based on the ideology of racialism, but rather, those enslaved tended to be thieves or enemies of differing tribes. The treatment was nowhere as brutal as the Europeans were to the Africans, and many captives could buy back their freedom or earn a small living fee. Herculean African leaders sometimes exchanged enslaved people for goods such as alcohol, beads and cloth, unbeknown to them of the severity of maltreatment their captives would go on to receive.”
Links:
RMG
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2. The British Museum
 The British Museum has recently revealed that around 2000 artefacts are thought to have been stolen from their archives.
In a press release the British Museum revealed that they have ‘launched an independent review of security after items from the collection were found to be missing, stolen or damaged’.
Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, has confirmed that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is ‘ closely monitoring the situation at the British Museum, and engaging directly with the British Museum on this issue’.
Rt Hon George Osborne, Chair of the British Museum, said:
“Trustees have taken decisive action to deal with the situation, working with the team at the Museum. We called in the police, imposed emergency measures to increase security, set up an independent review into what happened and lessons to learn, and used all the disciplinary powers available to us to deal with the individual we believe to be responsible.”
Since the discovery of the stolen objects, Hartwig Fischer, the museum’s director has announced that he will be stepping down from his position. In a press release he said:
“It is evident that the British Museum did not respond as comprehensively as it should have in response to the warnings in 2021, and to the problem that has now fully emerged. The responsibility for that failure must ultimately rest with the Director.”
Sir Mark Jones has now been appointed to the role of Interim Director.
Writing for The Times Laura Freeman the chief art critic, argued that in recent years the British Museum has neglected its duties by putting “the cause first, collection second” and that their focus on political activism had distracted from their most important job: the preservation of artefacts for future generations. She concludes that “museums and galleries should stop posturing, stay out of hashtag politics and keep a close eye on their collections’.
The British Museum’s new search for a permanent director has raised questions about cultural restitution, particularly of the Elgin Marbles.
Despina Koutsoumba, the Head of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, told BBC Radio 4 that “we want to tell the British Museum that they cannot any more say that Greek culture heritage is more protected in the British Museum”.
Lina Mendoni, Greece’s Minister of Culture, said the security concerns raised around the missing objects “reinforces the permanent and just demand of our country for the definitive return of the Elgin Marbles”.
In a July 2023 interview with the Greek Daily newspaper Ta Nea, London Mayor Sadiq Khan stated that:
“I obviously want Londoners to be able to see the Elgin Marbles, but I don't see why the British Museum, the British government, the government of Greece and the museum in Athens can't come to an accommodation to share these wonderful, wonderful Elgin Marbles”
In a recent article for the Telegraph, Sir Noel Malcolm, a world-renowned historian and Senior Advisor on Human Rights at Policy Exchange, argued that:
“It would be good to have a Director who was willing to defend vocally (as Fischer never did) the Museum’s ownership of the Marbles; this might be a useful test of any applicant for the job.”
Sir Noel Malcolm is also the author of Policy Exchange’s report on the future of the Elgin Marbles which finds that:
- the claim that Elgin’s removal of the sculptures was illegal is false;
- the claim that his actions were invalidated by coercive bribery is false;
- the claim that he acted against the clear wishes of the Greek community is certainly unproven and probably false;
Sir Noel finds that Elgin’s actions certainly saved the Marbles from an ongoing process of serious damage, dispersal and destruction.
Links:
British Museum
Parliament
British Museum
British Museum
Telegraph
Telegraph
Policy Exchange
LinkedIn
The Times
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3. Gladstone’s Family
 The family of former Prime Minister William Gladstone has made the decision to apologise for their links to slavery.
William Gladstone’s father, John Gladstone, was a slave owner in the British West Indies. While Gladstone himself opposed slavery, some institutions have attempted to distance themselves from the family. In April 2021, The University of Liverpool committed to renaming one of their University Halls while a bust from Gladstone’s hometown in Merseyside has spent three years in storage pending a decision about its ‘suitability’.
Charlie Gladstone, one of John Gladstone’s descendants, travelled to Guyana, South America, with five family members to make a formal apology for John Gladstone’s ownership of Africans. In a joint statement released by two generations of descendants, they said that:
"We believe that his actions amounted to a crime against humanity and wish to apologise to the people of Guyana. We know that we can't change the past, but we believe that we can make a better future."
The apology was made at the opening of the University of Guyana’s International Institute for Migration and the Diaspora studies which the family hopes to help to fund with a grant of £100,000.
At the event, Charlie Gladstone said in his speech:
“It is with deep shame and regret that we acknowledge our ancestor’s involvement in this crime and with heartfelt sincerity that we apologised to the descendants of the enslaved in Guyana. We also urge other descendants of those who benefited from slavery to open conversations about their ancestors’ crimes and what they might be able to do to build a better future”
The event was protested by many activists. One shouted ‘It is not accepted’ while others held placards that read ‘Your guilt is real Charlie. Move quickly to reparations now’.
An article in the Daily Mail noted that Sir Trevor Phillips OBE, Policy Exchange Senior Fellow and chair of the History Matters Project, may be in line to financially benefit from the Gladstone family’s efforts to pay reparations.
Sir Trevor said “ my own ancestors almost certainly were owned by the Gladstones”, adding that “It’s highly symbolic and important that the Gladstone family have acknowledged what happened in Demerara”.
Links:
BBC
Al Jazeera
Daily Mail
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4. Benin Bronzes
 Some British museums have chosen to pause the return of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria after a statement from the country’s president recently announced that ownership of the repatriated treasures would be transferred to a traditional ruler or ‘Oba’.
Last year the Horniman Museum in London pledged to return 72 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria following a formal request from the National Commission of Museums and Monuments in Nigeria. The National Museum of Scotland, The University of Oxford, and the University of Cambridge had also committed to returning the bronzes in their possession.
After an official gazette signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 28 th March said that the Oba of Benin was the rightful owner of all returned Benin Bronzes, many curators have expressed concern that the artefacts will be housed in a private collection where they cannot be viewed by the public.
The University of Oxford is now “monitoring the situation” with regards to the pledged return while the University of Cambridge has paused the repatriation process.
A spokesman for the Horniman Museum has said: “As our return was unconditional, if ownership is transferred to the Oba, we will discuss future arrangements for return.”
The University of Cambridge commented that: “ The University of Cambridge is in talks with all parties in Nigeria over the implementation of the Council’s decision to return Benin Bronzes in its collections.
We have no further comment to make at this time whilst talks are ongoing.”
Links:
Cambridge University
Pitt Rivers Museum
BBC News
Telegraph
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5. Kew Gardens
 Kew Gardens has scheduled an autumn festival to “celebrate Queer Nature”.
This will include a “ Breaking the Binary” event organised by garden designer Patrick Featherstone. The event information reads that:
“Breaking the Binary features a range of plant species with reproductive methods that offer a challenge to binary language. These include Oreopanax xalapensis, which contains multiple types of flowers, Illicium macranthum, a dichogamous species of plant in the star anise family, and Persicaria amplexicaulis whichhas rhizomatous stems, enabling it to spread and reproduce vegetatively.”
Kew Gardens have claimed that:
“While the basic system of reproduction in most plants is binary, involving the fusion of male and female gametes, some individual plants do not neatly fit into binaries. In some such plants, flowers can start off by being male and later the female parts become active (and vice versa). Some plants are even more complex, with functionally male, functionally female and hermaphrodite flowers all on the same individual. In fungi even the basic system is anything but binary, with fungi having as many as 36,000 different mating types.”
This event comes after the Kew Gardens management team announced plans to “decolonise” their collections in 2021.
Kew Gardens receives half of its income from the taxpayer.
Jerry Allen Coyne, a Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, has criticised the exhibit. He argued that:
“The fact that flowers are hermaphrodites doesn’t either buttress or denigrate “queerness”. These are hermaphrodites, and hermaphrodites are not known in humans in a form that is fertile as both male and female. (We do have some human hermaphrodites, but they are almost vanishingly rare and are never fertile as both male and female.) […]
“They also mention fungi, which have “mating types” that can number in the hundreds, but this is the exception among organisms and not seen as “sexes” by biologists.”
In the 2021 report, Politicising Plants, Policy Exchange criticised Kew Gardens’ announced intention to ‘decolonise’ their collections. After this report was published references to ‘decolonisation’ were dropped from Kew’s manifesto for change. However, it is not clear that practice at the botanic gardens has changed. On their website, Kew seeks ‘ acknowledge [their] history’ by analysing ‘Kew’s history’ from ‘the diverse multi-racial perspective of UK society today’ in order to ‘broaden the stories we tell and to enquire afresh into our colonial and imperial past’.
Richard Deverell, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, commented:
“Re-examining history often brings controversy. Some have suggested that by taking the steps I have outlined above we are politicising Kew or acting beyond our remit. I disagree.”
He also writes that:
“Sugar, on display in our Palm House, played a central role in British Imperial history and fuelled the slave trade from Africa to the Caribbean. Many Afro-Caribbean citizens in the UK today are here, in part, because of this plant and as such it would be remiss of us not to tell this story.
“We also need to give a historic context to our collections and acknowledge the role of local plant hunters in identifying important species.
“In the China Grove, for example, near the Great Pagoda, we now explain how the Second Opium War opened access to a previously closed country, thus enabling plant hunters to collect, describe and introduce some of China’s extraordinary plant diversity to gardens around the world.
Many of the UK’s favourite garden plants, like Camellia and Rhododendron, arrived during this period.”
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs have statutory duty of oversight over Kew Gardens. No ministers in the department have commented on Kew’s efforts to politicise their collection.
Links:
Kew
Why Evolution is True
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6. ‘Queering’ the Collection - The Mary Rose Museum
 In a recent blog post, curators of the Mary Rose collection sought to ‘ interpret and [queer] their objects’. This is part of a broader ‘Queering the Collections’ movement taking place in museums around the world.
Curators suggested that a mirror found aboard the ship might be understood as a ‘queer object’ because:
“Looking at your own reflection in a mirror can bring up lots of emotions for both straight and LGBTQ+ people. For Queer people, we may experience a strong feeling of gender dysphoria when we look into a mirror”
They also suggested nit combs found could be understood through a queer lens, noting that:
“Today, hairstyles are heavily gendered, following the gender norm that men have short hair, and women have long hair. By ‘subverting’ and playing with gender norms, Queer people can find hairstyles that they feel comfortable wearing”
Philip Hensher an author and Professor at Bath Spa University criticised the post, writing in Unherd that: “It is unusual and deplorable that, before sharing its blog post, a museum like the Mary Rose didn’t say, quite firmly, “sorry – this isn’t good enough for us to publish.”
Writing for the Spectator, Mark Wakefield argued the post did a “terrible disservice” to the crew of the Mary Rose, and to their collection.
The Mary Rose Trust responded the criticism, stating: “Queering the collection is an approach used by museums around the world. We are proud to support all of our dedicated employees, volunteers and interns as they offer their own personal reflections through our blog.”
Links:
Mary Rose
Unherd
Spectator
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7. National Museum of Scotland – Totem Pole
 The National Museum of Scotland have begun the process of returning a totem pole to the Nisga’a Nation, an indigenous group in British Columbia on the west coast of Canada.
An 11m totem pole is set to be returned to Canada. The totem pole was sold to the museum by a Canadian anthropologist Marium Barbeau and has been in Scotland for almost a century. Researchers have argued that the pole was stolen without consent while locals were away from their villages for the hunting season.
The totem pole features carved animals, human figures, and family crests which tell the story of a Nisga’a warrior who was next in line to become chief before his death.
The totem still has significant spiritual significance to the Nisga’a people. Before the pole set out on its journey the Nisga’a people carried out a private spiritual ceremony at the museum.
This is the first time a national museum in the UK has returned a belonging of this type.
Dr. Chris Breward, Director of National Museums Scotland said that:
“Since the transfer of the Memorial Pole was agreed last December, our collections care teams have been planning for the complex task of carefully lowering and transporting it in what is the first return of its type by a UK institution”
The Scottish Government agreed to pay for the return of the pole, which will cost the taxpayer £300,000. This decision was taken after it became clear the Nisga’a would likely not have the means to fund transportation. Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Conservative MSP, said the funding row was “just the latest example of SNP wokery and hypocrisy”, suggesting that the cost of transporting the pole was not a good use of public funds.
Links:
National Museum Scotland
BBC News
Telegraph
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8. Manchester Museum – Return of everyday objects
 Manchester Museum has made the decision to return a collection of 174 everyday objects to the Anindilyakwa community who live on an archipelago in the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the northern coast of Australia. These include dolls made from shells, baskets, fishing spears, boomerangs, armbands, and a map. The objects are not sacred or ceremonial.
“We believe this is the future of museums,” said Esme Ward, the director of Manchester Museum. “ This is how we should be.”
She emphasised that she was not telling other museums what they should do with their collections, “but if people are inspired by our commitment to build relationships, that would be great.”
Krista Pikkat, UNESCO’s Director for Culture and Emergencies attended the formal handover of the objects. She said:
“It is a truly historic and moving moment [...] This is a case we have shared with our member states because we felt it was exemplary in many ways.”
The objects were all bought or traded in the 1950s by Peter Worsley, an anthropology PhD student researching the lives of Indigenous Australians. The collection is not believed to have been obtained illegally.
In January 2023 the Manchester Museum announced funding and plans for a new Social Justice Manager.
Links:
Manchester Museum
Guardian
Manchester Museum
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9. Wellcome Collection – Appointments
 The Wellcome Trust Charity which made headlines last year for their decision to close their ‘Medicine Man’ exhibit has now appointed a Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer and a Chief Strategy Officer.
Dr Jimmy Volmink will be joining the Wellcome Trust from Stellenbosch University. He is the trust’s first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer and will ‘work in partnership with the whole executive leadership team to support Wellcome in becoming an inclusive employer’. The position was advertised for £211,5000 per annum. Dr Beth Thompson will be joining as Chief Strategy Officer. Her position was advertised for less at £177,830 per annum.
In 2022 the Wellcome Trust received £26.98m from government contracts and £1.2m from government grants. The level of compensation offered for the role provoked significant backlash on social media, particularly given the Wellcome Collection’s charitable status.
The Wellcome Collection is also currently advertising for a Head of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion. They would be joining a team of six people focused on issues relating to Culture, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI) at the Wellcome Collection.
CEDI is stated as a priority for the Wellcome Trust. Their website declares that:
“We prioritise and involve the most minoritised groups in each area of our work, and take targeted action where needed to achieve better outcomes for all.”
As part of their diversity and inclusion strategy the welcome collection is aiming to meet the following criteria:
- “30 per cent of Wellcome staff to be from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and 15 per cent disabled, reflected across all levels of seniority – this will be achieved through equal or higher rates in hiring, progression and retention
- at least 75 per cent of senior leaders to demonstrate they have met inclusive leadership criteria in their performance reviews
- at least 80 per cent of BAME and disabled staff to feel that Wellcome is an inclusive organisation”
Links:
Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Collection
Telegraph
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10. UN Judge Calculates UK Reparations Payments
 A report co-authored by the UN judge, Patrick Robinson, claims that the UK owes reparations payments at a sum of £18.8 trillion.
The authors of the paper note that:
“While the resulting amounts are extraordinary, we provide context to understand them given the nature of the wrongs, the centuries over which they transpired, the delay in making reparations, and the economies that benefited from them. Our analysis shows that the magnitude of harms are commensurate with the scope of transatlantic chattel slavery.”
The paper sets out a decades long payment plan for fourteen former slaveholding states, including the UK, America, Portugal, and France. The paper concludes that:
“Taken together, the total harm estimated from enslavement is between US$100 trillion and US$131 trillion. We recognize that these figures surely underestimate the true harms.”
Mr Robinson has said that that “once a state has committed a wrongful act, its obliged to pay reparations.
Critics have already argued that the UK has paid the cost. Writing for the Times, Douglas Murray has noted that:
“After abolishing the trade in 1807, this country chose to send the Royal Navy around the world, establishing the West Africa Squadron based at Freetown, and grew the fleet until a sixth of the ships and seamen of the Royal Navy were employed in the fight against the slave trade. The cost to Britain of this highly unusual decision was significant. Scholars who have done the maths have produced some sobering conclusions. Abolition is estimated to have cost just under 2 per cent of national income. That was the case each year for 60 years (from 1808 to 1867). Factoring in the principal costs and the secondary costs, such as the higher prices of goods the British had to pay throughout this period, Britain’s abolition and suppression of the Atlantic slave trade may actually have equalled any financial benefits accrued to the nation during the period of the trade.”
The West Africa Squadron has been described by Robert Pape and Chaim Kaufmann as the “most expensive example” of “international moral action recorded in modern history”. Britain’s efforts to supress the slave trade cost more than five thousand lives and an estimated average of nearly 2 per cent of national income for sixty years. Over the course of its operation, from 1807 - 1867, an estimated 150,000 Africans were freed.
In 1833 the British Government also raised £20,000,000 to fund emancipation. This amounted to 40 per cent of the treasury’s annual income and require a £15,000,000 loan paid out in government stock worth £1.5 billion today.
Links:
BBC News
Brattle.com
Jstor
Tax Justice
UK Parliament
The Times
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11. Prime Minister Rejects Calls for Reparations
 Responding to a Prime Minister’s Questions from Labour MP Bell-Ribeiro-Addy, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would not be apologising for its role in slavery or committing to reparations.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham, asked Rishi Sunak:
“Will the Prime Minister do what Bernie Grant asked all those years ago, and what I and countless others have asked since, by offering a full and meaningful apology for our country’s role in slavery and colonialism, and committing to reparatory justice”
The Prime Minister responded:
“No, what I think our focus should now be on doing, while of course understanding our history in all its parts and not running away from it, is making sure that we have a society that is inclusive and tolerant of people from all backgrounds. That is something that we on the Government Benches are committed to doing and will continue to deliver, but trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward and is not something we will focus our energies on.”
In the past, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed “ deep sorrow” for slavery. When asked whether this constituted an apology in 2007 he said: “ we are sorry. And I say it again now”.
Links:
UK Parliament
Reuters
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12. Memorial for victims of the transatlantic slave trade
 The London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced plans for a £500,000 memorial at West India Quay to victims of the transatlantic slave trade.
The memorial will be the first of its scale and profile in the UK to honour victims of the slave trade.
Sadiq Khan noted that “ London played a fundamental role in the organisation and funding of the transatlantic slave trade. While there are monuments commemorating abolition, and many statues and buildings reflecting the wealth and power the slave trade created, there is little to memorialise the millions of African people who were enslaved and abused as a result – or its impact on generations of Black communities.”
The statement said of the choice of location that “the site is near to where the statue of Robert Milligan formerly stood. In 2020, the Canal and River Trust, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the Museum of London, and other partners in Canary Wharf, removed a statue of Robert Milligan, a prominent London-based slave trader, which had been in place since 1997. The statue is now part of the Museum of London’s collection and is being held in storage while the museum consults with the public on how to best present it”
The statue of Robert Milligan was removed in 2020 after the Black Lives Matter protests. The statue has been in storage for three years pending a decision on how it should be displayed.
Links:
Mayor of London
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13. Former MP requests removal from slavery research
 A former conservative MP has requested the right to be removed from PhD research currently being undertaken by Malik Al Nasir seeking to trace Samuel Sandbach’s family tree.
Samuel Sandbach was a Liverpool merchant with a stake in plantations in the West Indes. Mr Al Nasir recently named Antoinette Sandbach as one of his living descendants as part of his PhD research being undertaken at St Catherine’s University, Cambridge. He also incorrectly claimed that Ms Sandbach’s Farm resides on land purchased by Samuel Sandbach. A written correction has since been added to the TEDx Talk where he made this claim.
Ms Sandbach has argued that there is no public interest in identifying her as a descendent. She has also accused Mr Al Nasir of singling her out when there are many other living relatives.
Ms Sandbach has threatened to take legal action regarding what she terms ‘ongoing data breaches by Cambridge University and Mr Al Nasir’
St Catherine’s College, Cambridge have commented that " St Catharine's is absolutely committed to upholding freedom of speech and ensuring all of our students, including Malik Al Nasir, are able to freely pursue their scholarly interests."
Links:
BBC News
Ted
CDH
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14. King Charles supports research into the Royal Family’s slavery links
 The Palace have given researchers full access to the Royal Archives and the Royal Collection to investigate the family’s historic ties to slavery.
Historian Camilla de Koning has undertaken a PhD project at the University of Manchester exploring the relationship between the British monarchy and the slave trade in the 17 th and 18 th centuries. The Palace has said that King Charles takes the issue ‘profoundly seriously’. Buckingham Palace has granted researchers full access to the Royal Archives and the Royal Collection
In response to a previously unseen document showing the 1689 transfer of shares in the slave-trading Royal African Company from Edward Colston, the slave trader and the company’s deputy governor, to King William III, the Palace told the Guardian that “ given the complexities of the issues it is important to explore them as thoroughly as possible”.
Links:
BBC News
Guardian
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15. Trinity College, Cambridge – Legacies of Slavery Research
 Trinity College, Cambridge has announced that it will be appointing a new Legacies of Slavery Research and Teaching Fellow.
Trinity College has announced a project to examine the ways in which it was “ linked to, benefited from or challenged the slave trade and other forms of coerced labour during the colonial era through the appointment of a new four-year research and teaching academic”.
As part of this project, they will be appointing a Legacies of Slavery Research and Teaching Fellow who will consider the ways in which Trinity might have gained from slavery, whether through fees and bequests from students and alumni, or from investments by the College.
Isuri Ratnayake, Ethnic and Inclusion Officer of Trinity’s Graduate Society, welcomed the College’s commitment to addressing its past:
“Examining and acknowledging the College’s legacies of slavery is crucial in cultivating a culture of accountability and inclusivity. Only by facing our past can we pave the way towards a more equitable future, where all members of our community can thrive free from the shadows of oppression and discrimination.
“I hope that other institutions along with Trinity continue in recognizing their historical ties to slavery and taking tangible steps towards repair and reconciliation.”
Trinity College have also promised to donate over £1 million over five years towards scholarships enabling three students from the Caribbean to study masters at Cambridge each year.
The fellow will be appointed by October 2023 and will be actively involved in teaching and college life.
Links:
Trinity College Cambridge
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16. University of Aberdeen – Decolonising the Curriculum
 The University of Aberdeen have committed to a three-year project of decolonising their curriculum.
The university has committed to:
- Complete a review of curriculum, in schools, in the context of decolonising the curriculum by the end of academic year 2023/24, and fully implement all changes by academic year 2025/26
- include information on how any new course or programme will address the principle of decolonisation
- work with students as active partners; and
- review Reading Lists as an initial step
The University of Aberdeen have stated that:
“We aim to decolonise by identifying, challenging, and transforming the colonial categories of thought that dominate disciplinary knowledge and its dissemination. To this end, and driven principally by the goal of restoring epistemic justice to producing and disseminating knowledge, we will review, rethink, and revise pedagogical practices including class activities, course structure, assessment questions, terminology and examples used in class exercises, reading lists, teaching materials, evaluation, and research strategies.”
All courses will be given three years to “decolonise” with a commitment to embedding “a bold sustained programme of antiracist curricular reform”. Academics are required to “review their reading list” while the Library has already set up a system for students to report “problematic language in catalogue records”.
Links:
ABDN
ABDN
ABDN
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17. University of Bristol – Building Names Public Consultation
 After the identification of seven university buildings named after families with connections to the transatlantic slave trade in November 2022, Bristol University is holding an ongoing consultation on their renaming process.
Bristol University first commissioned research into its links to the transatlantic slave trade in 2020. Their findings identified four main families who had buildings named after them across the university campus in recognition of their philanthropy. These families were all linked to the transatlantic slave trade. The buildings were as follows:
- The Wills Memorial Building, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratories, Wills Hall and Dame Monica Wills Chapel
- The Fry Building
- The Merchant Venturers Building
- Goldney Hall.
With oversight from their Anti-Racism Steering Group, the University has launched a building renaming consultation on the topic.
In January 2023 the digital consultation was concluded. A team of data scientists are now analysing the survey data.
On the 11 th July 2023 Bristol held a public event at the Rose Green Centre seeking to hear from local Black communities who were under-represented in previous consultations. The event was attended by around 150 people and was not limited to students at the University.
In September the University Executive Board will publish a report on how they plan to move forward with the naming consultation.
Links:
Bristol University
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18. Bristol – Street Renaming to Require Consent of Property Owners
 In response to a Freedom of Information request Bristol City Council have confirmed that streets in the city named after Edward Colston will not be changed unless the move is supported by “all property owners”.
Numerous places in Bristol have changed their names following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. In 2022 the Colston Arms in Kingsdown changed its name to the Open Arms while Colston School was renamed ‘Collegiate School’. There have been several petitions for Bristol’s streets named after Colston to do the same.
A spokesperson from Bristol City Council has confirmed it is unlikely road names will be changed:
"We require that all property owners on a given street provide their consent for its name to be changed, as such a move incurs administrative costs for those individuals/businesses to change legal documents etc. We have no plans to change this position.
"We would therefore need to see overwhelming support from property owners on a given road in order to consider contacting all of them to confirm their unanimous consent to begin the process of changing their street's name.”
This follows advice from a 2021 Policy Exchange paper that suggested local councils obtain support from a 2/3 majority of residents before a street name proceeds. The paper was accepted by His Majesty’s Government and legislation was put in place in July 2022 to implement the recommendation.
Links:
Gov.uk
Policy Exchange
Bristol Post
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19. Wales - Monuments, Street Names, and Buildings
 The Welsh Government have announced their intention to “review and decolonise our public spaces and collections by appropriately addressing the way in which people and events with known historical associations to slavery and colonialism are commemorated”.
The Welsh government is set to publish guidance for local authorities which references the finding of their recent report: 'The Slave Trade and the British Empire: An Audit of Commemoration in Wales’ to provide clarity on how they review and address examples of historic commemorations.
The report identifies Francis Drake, Mohandas Ghandi, Winston Churchill, Christopher Columbus, and William Gladstone as figures commemorated in Wales by monuments, street names, and buildings which “require examination”.
The deadline for the implementation of this guidance in March 2025 although it is not yet clear if this will include the renaming of streets and buildings or the removal of monuments.
The goal of the action plan is to ensure that: “ people and events with known historical associations to slavery and colonialism are portrayed in an anti-racist way – one that recognises historical injustices.”
Recent government guidance ensures that councils in England will need agreement from two-thirds of residents on a street to change the name. However, this guidance does not apply to Wales.
Links:
Gov.Wales
Gov.Wales
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20. Cambridge – Eagle Pub
The blue plaque at The Eagle pub in Cambridge has been replaced to recognise the work of Rosalind Franklin and other female scientists.
The blue plaque outside The Eagle pub commemorates the moment when Francis Crick and James Watson celebrated their discovery of the DNA Double Helix structure. The plaque has provoked much debate due to its failure to recognise the contributions of Rosalind Franklin whose X-ray photo allowed Crick and Watson to identify the 3D structure of DNA.
The plaque now reads:
‘Here at The Eagle, near the old Cavendish Laboratory Francis Crick and James Watson first celebrated the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. This breakthrough relied on data from Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins and other scientists’
Penny Heath, chair of the Cambridge Blue Plaque Committee said:
"In recent years there have been efforts to increase awareness of the role played by important female scientists, whose work has sometimes been overshadowed by their male colleagues. Rosalind Franklin was one such scientist and so the DNA plaque without her name became emblematic of this cause."
Links:
Corpus.cam
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