Plaques have been unveiled on the 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, its project to reinterpret the statues of slave traders former lord mayor William Beckford and former MP Sir John Cass.
It reflects a commitment to historical accountability by the City Corporation for its role in the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people, the City Corporation said.
At the City Corporation’s Guildhall headquarters, plaques unveiled on Monday and fixed to the Beckford and Cass statues, acknowledge and condemn the men’s role in the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people, the City Corporation said.
The project’s steering group, including Culture&, Creative Arts Social Consultancy, and the City Corporation, worked with the City Corporation’s staff and local residents, and consulted inter-generational and accessibility panels to enable content from a range of different perspectives.
Featuring texts by artist and heritage professional, Rachael Minott, the plaques are accompanied by poems from John Agard and Courtney Conrad.
The project’s digital platform offers visitors and online audiences a deeper exploration of the City’s historic ties to slavery, the City Corporation added.
The project’s content brings Caribbean diaspora voices to the forefront and encourages reflection on how the legacy of enslavement continues to shape shared spaces, the City Corporation said.
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 primary decision-making body, the Court of Common Council, voted to remove the statues.
However, after the then government later introduced its Retain and Explain policy, advising that public memorials should remain in place with added historical context, the City Corporation reconsidered.
The Court of Common Council voted to keep the statues and develop the Revealing The City’s Past project in response.
Policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said: “This project has brought together many talented people, most importantly, voices from the Caribbean diaspora who have historically been excluded from the narrative on Beckford and Cass’s legacy and wealth. We are deeply grateful for their expertise, creativity, and insight.
“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.
“Against the wishes of many, these statues remain.
“Here at Guildhall, two slave traders still stand but we do not stand with them.
“We are fully committed to race equity and to making our spaces safe and welcoming for all.”
Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s culture, heritage, and libraries committee, Brendan Barns, said: “These statues represent prejudice, cruelty, and greed.
“It cannot be denied that the City’s links to slavery are a stain on our history, and we should never attempt to erase or gloss over the past.
“With the installation of these plaques and the creation of a wealth of online resources, we are taking positive action to educate current and future generations about this evil form of commerce.”
Chief executive officer and artistic director of Culture&, Dr Errol Francis, said: “Culture&’s involvement in this project to ‘retain and explain’ the statues in the City of London’s Guildhall has called upon a wide range of our skills as well as our lived experience as people with ancestral links to the atrocities associated with the legacy of William Beckford and Sir John Cass.
“We have helped convene the inter-generational advisory panel, choose designers, commission poets, work on the editing of historical texts, and more still.
“We hope that this work will go some way towards explaining how London’s merchants and politicians were involved in profiteering from the enslavement of Africans.
“We are aware of the historical importance of this work, from which we hope that the learning will inform the future policy and practice around contested heritage.”
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