One of Merseyside's most prestigious schools has announced it will hold a consultation on the renaming of one of its houses, which bears the name of a former slave trader.
The Blue Coat School in Wavertree made the announcement in a letter addressed to students, parents and staff on Wednesday afternoon.
The school was founded by former Liverpool Mayor and naval captain Bryan Blundell whose philanthropic donations originally established a school for poor and orphaned children in 1708, from which the modern day school can be traced.
It followed an open letter signed by over 100 current and former pupils which called for the renaming of Blundell House, and said its continued existence was "nothing short of a kick in the teeth to BAME students".
Blundell was involved in the transatlantic slave trade and was the owner of a slave ship called the Tarleton which transported hundreds of slaves from Africa to the West Indies.
Historical evidence suggests that, in the decades after its foundation in the early eighteenth century, that the school did receive funding from the profits of slavery.
In the letter, seen by the ECHO, Martin Hill, Chair of the Trust Board, and Scilla Yates, Head Teacher, said that the consultation will be held over the coming weeks and will speak to representatives from the study body.
In the letter, the school said: "The Black Lives Matter campaign calls for all organisations of every kind to challenge themselves to reflect upon and review behaviours, cultures and practices within them. The Blue Coat School has a responsibility to do this too."
Citing the open letter from students and alumni, the school acknowledged that Blundell profited from the transatlantic slave trade and agreed to hold a consultation on the removal of the house name.
The letter continued: "The Blue Coat School today recalls Blundell’s memory in a number of ways. We have a House and a Suite named after him; his memorial stone lies in the School Chapel, and once a year, the school gathers to celebrate its founders and heritage in what is called “Founders’ Fortnight”.
"We therefore believe it is right to lead a consultation with all stakeholder groups on the removal of the name Blundell as one of our House names and for other uses.
"The Blue Coat community is wide and includes many groups of people and we wish to consult as widely as possible. We will be in touch with parents, students, staff, past students and supporters of the school in the near future regarding your views as part of the consultation."
The decision comes after an open letter, signed by over 100 current students and alumni, called on the school to "rename Blundell house after a member of the community who represents positive and progressive ideals and actions."
The letter calls the continued existence of Blundell House "nothing short of a kick in the teeth to BAME students who should feel comfortable and safe in the school that claims to have their best interests at heart."
It also states that the the name is "contributing to the normalisation of the slave trade as nothing but 'part of our history' and does not encourage students to think critically about the lasting effects it has had on racism and equality in society."
This comes after a wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the world and the toppling of a statue of the slaver Edward Colston in Bristol led to calls to remove statues and references to historical figures connected to slavery and colonialism.
Yesterday, the University of Liverpool agreed to rename Gladstone Hall, named after former Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone after students wrote an open letter to the Vice Chancellor stressing Gladstone's family ties to slaveholding.
