Plaques have been unveiled on statues of slave traders in London which reveal the "enormous wrongdoings" of the men as part of a new project to reinterpret them. The City of London Corporation has launched Revealing The City's Past to address the controversial monuments at its Guildhall headquarters.
The project reflects a commitment to historical accountability by the City Corporation for its role in the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people. Plaques were fixed to statues of former lord mayor William Beckford and former MP Sir John Cass on Monday, acknowledging and condemning their involvement in slavery.
Caribbean voices take centre stage
The project's steering group worked with local residents and consulted inter-generational and accessibility panels to enable content from different perspectives. Featuring texts by artist and heritage professional Rachael Minott, the plaques are accompanied by poems from John Agard and Courtney Conrad.
A digital platform offers visitors and online audiences deeper exploration of the City's historic ties to slavery. The project brings Caribbean diaspora voices to the forefront and encourages reflection on how the legacy of enslavement continues to shape shared spaces.
Historical figures' slave trade connections
William Beckford was a two-time lord mayor of London in the late 1700s who accrued wealth from plantations in Jamaica and held African slaves. Sir John Cass was a 17th and 18th century merchant, MP and philanthropist who also profited from the slave trade.
In January 2021, the City Corporation's Court of Common Council voted to remove the statues. However, after the Government introduced its Retain and Explain policy, advising that public memorials should remain with added historical context, the City Corporation reconsidered.
'We do not stand with them'
The Court of Common Council subsequently voted to keep the statues and develop the current project in response. Policy chairman Chris Hayward said the project brought together talented people, "most importantly, voices from the Caribbean diaspora who have historically been excluded from the narrative".
"The enormous wrongdoings of Beckford and Cass are laid bare by this project, leaving no doubt about the contempt in which these two men should be held," Hayward said. "Against the wishes of many, these statues remain. Here at Guildhall, two slave traders still stand but we do not stand with them."
Educational mission for future generations
Brendan Barns, chairman of the culture, heritage, and libraries committee, said the statues "represent prejudice, cruelty, and greed". He acknowledged that the City's links to slavery are "a stain on our history" that should never be erased or glossed over.
Dr Errol Francis, chief executive of Culture&, said the organisation's involvement called upon their skills and lived experience as people with ancestral links to the atrocities. The work aims to explain how London's merchants and politicians profited from enslaving Africans, with learning intended to inform future policy around contested heritage.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
