City of London Corporation will not remove statues of slavers : CityAM

The City of London Corporation has U-turned on its decision to remove controversial statues of a slave owner and slave trader from its Guildhall headquarters.

The Square Mile’s local authority said the statues of Sir John Cass and William Beckford would remain in place, but will have “plaques or notices placed alongside them, with contextual information about the two men’s links to slavery”.

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It comes after the Corporation voted to remove the statues in January, with the authority’s policy chair Catherine McGuinness saying at the time that she backed the decision.

The impetus to remove the statues began in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last year, which sparked calls for the City of London Corporation to examine its past links to slavery.

A paper from the Corporation’s Tackling Racism Taskforce said that the decision to not remove the statues was made as 71 per cent of people polled said they should stay.

The taskforce said that to remove the statues would have been difficult as Guildhall is a Grade I Listed Building.

Beckford owned 1,200 slaves on a Jamaican plantation and Cass was directly involved in the slave trade, with both making large donations to City of London causes in the 18th century.

The paper said “that while their philanthropic actions were endorsed through profits from slavery, neither statue was commissioned in direct recognition of this, but to celebrate their achievements throughout their lifetimes”.

City of London Corporation Statues Working Group chair Doug Barrow said: “We are committed to equality, inclusivity and diversity and to ensuring the Square Mile is a place where people of all ethnicities and backgrounds feel safe and welcome.

“We’ve carefully considered this matter, taking into account strong feelings on both sides of the argument, and made what we think is a sensible, proportionate response to a sensitive issue. It enables us to acknowledge and address the legacy of our past with openness and honesty – not to try and erase history but to place it in its proper context.

“We can’t be blind to the fact the history of the City is inextricably linked to slavery, which is a stain on our past and, shockingly, remains a feature of life today in many parts of the world. We are committed to confronting modern slavery in our areas of influence.

Cass – whose name was also removed from the title of City University’s business school last year – was a major figure in the Royal African Company, which made much of its money directly from the slave trade.

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Cass went on to donate chunks of his fortune to philanthropic causes throughout the City of London in the early 18th century.

Beckford, who held senior positions within the City of London Corporation during the 18th century, made his vast wealth thanks to the ownership of some 1,200 slaves on Jamaican sugar plantations.