Interesting that the University of Cambridge is investigating its links with slavery. Are they hoping to be exonerated by the fact that not one Cambridge college was founded between Sidney Sussex College in 1596 and Downing College in 1800 ? These are after all pretty close to the dates of the infamous Transatlantic Slave Trade. The start of the slave trade between Africa and the New World can be dated from 1562, the year of Sir John Hawkins’ first slave trading voyage from Guinea to the West Indies, and the end to the Act of Abolition in 1807. Is the concurrence of these dates significant? Is Cambridge playing it safe and assuming the University can avoid complicity in the slave trade?
Hardly. Scratch the surface of economic life anytime after 1562 and slavery is somewhere underneath. Staring you in the face at Cambridge is the bequest that led to the founding of the University museum, the Fitzwilliam, which was, in no small part, thanks to the profits of slavery. When Richard Fitzwilliam, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam left his collection of paintings, manuscripts and books to the University at his death in 1816 it came with stock in the South Sea Company to provide for the building of a museum. He also left a substantial bequest for the founding of courses in the arts, architecture and archaeology at his alma mater, Trinity College. Viscount Fitzwilliam was not a slaver of course, but, like so many 18th century gentleman of means, the origins of his fortune were firmly founded in slavery and behaviours we would find unacceptable today. He inherited land from both parents. His father’s family were the largest landowners in Dublin but his maternal grandfather was the successful merchant Sir Matthew Decker. Decker was a leading figure in the early 18th century expansion of British trade. He was a founder of the South Sea Company, Assistant to the Royal African Company and rose to be a Deputy Governor of the East India Company. All of these companies were, at one time and another, involved in the slave trade, indeed the Transatlantic Trade was the major source of profit for the Royal African Company until 1731 even though it was not set up to trade slaves. So there is, if you like, a direct line from the slave forts of Ghana to the steps of the Fitzwilliam and the arts students of Trinity.
Should we boycott the Museum or blackball Trinity? Of course not - the fortunes of Britain were entirely caught up with the slave trade. Directly or indirectly every single Briton was involved. Whether you stirred sugar into your tea, received a dividend from a trading company or took a wage from someone who did, slavery was simply an intrinsic part of the 17th and 18th century economy. And, of course, today's multi-cultural Britain is finally learning to embrace descendants of the enslaved as equals of the descendants of the enslavers.
In 2007, PM Tony Blair publicly apologised for Britain’s involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It went some way to recognising the universality of our involvement, though I’m not really sure that you can apologise for history – where on earth would you stop? Perhaps we should also be prepared to celebrate the culture that it funded in which we can all share today. Start with The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and move on to some of the great country houses built with the profits of slave estates. Harewood House in Yorkshire, Paxton House in the Borders, Ashton Court in Bristol, Danson House in Bexley are all good examples of great estates built by owners of plantations in the West Indies. Dig deeper and there are connections to the slave trade all around us and we all share in both the shame and the prosperity that it brought. As they say, “Just follow the money”; the University of Cambridge will be doing just that but don't let your conscience cloud your appreciation of the benefits - let's just make sure everyone can share them.